No.  1, 


THE  IDEAL  LIBRARY,        November,  1895. 


*        *         ***-x--*-**  *  ******         * 


Civilization 
Civilized 


BY 


STEPHEN  MAYBELL 


THE  CRUSADE  PUBLISHING  COMPANY 
DENVER,  COLORADO. 


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Monthly.  PriCC    lO  CclltS.  $1  Per  Year. 

Entered  at  tbe  Denver,  Colorado  postoiBce  as  second-class  matter. 


The  Brotherhood  of  the  Co-operative 
Commonwealth. 

THE  Brotherhood  of  the  Co-operative  Com- 
monwealth has  been  organized  with  lo- 
cal branches  in  every  State  and  Territory 
save  only  Alaska,  to  solve  the  labor  problem, 
by  establishing  co-operative  industrial  plants, 
and  communities  to  provide  work  for  the  un- 
employed, and  to  concentrate  co-operative  ef- 
fort in  one  State  until  said  State  is  socialized, 
thus  presenting  to  a  doubting  world,  a  practi- 
cal working  model  of  Socialism. 

Washington  State  has  been  selected  as  the 
first  field  of  its  operations,  and  the  work  of 
laying  the  foundations  of  a  model  co-opera- 
tive town  known  as  "Equality,"  is  well  under 
way. 

For  full  information  as  to  the  Brother- 
hood, its  aims,  objects  and  plans,  and  require- 
ments of  membership,  address  the  National 
Secretary  at  Edison,  Skagit  County,  Wash- 
ington. 


Civilization 

Civilized, 


OR 


The  Process  of  Socialism 


BY 


STEPHEN  MAYBELL. 


Copyrighted  1889,  by  Stephen  Maybell. 
All  rights  reserved. 


PUBLISHED  BY 
R.  A.  SOUTHWORTH, 
429  CHARLES  BUILDING, 
DENVER,  COLORADO. 


GOOD  BOOKS  THAT  WILL  HASTEN  THE  NEW  CIVILIZATION.    BUY 
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IVIEI^I^IE  ENGLAND. 

A  PLAIN  EXPOSITION  OF  SOCIALISM;  WHAT  IT  IS  AND  WHAT  IT  IS  NOT. 
By  Robert  Blatchford. 

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'■'■The  world  moves." — Galileo. 


>~  Dark  Fraud  by  strange  mysterious  rites, 

^  By  dungeon,  rack,  and  wheel, 

£9  Ground  weak  humanity  to  earth 

Beneath  its  iron  heel. 
^  Time  hurled  its  temples  to  the  dust, 

o  And  Reason  cried,  "Begone!" 

Your  ancient  gods  are  standing  still, 

Behold!    Tlie  world  moves  on! 

Through  weeping  ages  Murder  strode 

Knee- deep — right  royally — 
In  human  blood, — the  King  was  God; 

Right,  the  might  of  robbery. 
Time  hurled  throne  after  throne  to  earth. 

And  Reason  cried.  "  Begone!" 
Your  Kings  and  Queens  are  standing  still; 

Behold!     The  world  moves  on! 

'\  Now,  Heaven's  Intelligence  awakes, 

I  Her  banners  are  unfurled, 

,j  To  claim  her  proud  inherent  right, — 

\  The  Guardian  of  the  world. 

J  And  step  by  step  the  nations  rise, 

*  The  truth  yet  to  be  won. 

And  reason  still  prepares  the  way. 
And  still  the  world  moves  on! 


I    DEDICATE    THIS    BOOK,    CONTAINING    TEN     YEAKS     OF    MY    BEST 
THOUGHT,   TO   THE    LIBERATION   OP   THE   WORLD. 

THE  AUTHOR, 


CIVILIZATION  CIVILIZED. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE   IDEAL. 


Op  what  use  is  that  which  is  so  high,  so  pure,  so  beautiful, 
that  none  save  the  very  few  can  comprehend  or  grasp  its  benefit 
and  beauty?    Of  what  use  is  the  ideal  to  the  millions? 

The  ideal  is  the  most  powerful,  the  most  potent,  of  all  forces 
moving  humanity.  The  higher,  the  sublimer  the  thought,  the 
greater  the  effect  produced.  Though  millions  grasp  not  the  sub- 
lime truth  expressed,  there  are  those  who,  standing  next  in  pro- 
gression, receive  its  full  light,  and  who  in  turn  reflect  it  in  a 
sufficiently  lesser  degree,  tempered  to  meet  the  conditions  and 
grasp  of  those  below,  and  those,  again,  reflect  it  in  a  further  sub- 
dued degree  to  meet  those  still  below,  and  so  on  and  on  down 
from  link  to  link  the  force  is  communicated,  and  step  by  step  the 
chain  is  drawn  upward,  until  each  link  stands  where  its  prede- 
cessor formerly  stood, — a  step  in  advance  cf  the  past, — and  thus 
have  we  progress. 

Thus  the  higher,  sublimer,  mere  spiritual  the  thought,  be  it 
centuries  in  advance  of  the  comprehension  of  the  mass,  its  light 
and  force  goes  scintilating  down  into  the  darkness,  reflecting 
from  mind  to  mind,  as  the  sun  gleams  from  atoms  to  atoms, 
vitalizing  the  whole,  that  which  is  nearest  entering  into,  and  that 
which  is  farthest  approaching  nearer.  Thus  the  holier,  fairer 
our  aspiration  or  dream,  the  greater  the  force  exercised,  the 
heavier  the  weight  lifted,  the  more  numerous  the  lives  raised 
nearer  and  nearer  the  light. 

Come  down  with  me  into  this  gloomy  cellar.  How  chilling  is 
its  mildew-laden  atmosphere!  What  a  shudder  seizes  us  as  we 
enter  its  silence!  What  an  inexpressible  feeling  of  earth  chills 
our  marrow,  fills  our  thoughts  with  shapes  of  corpses  as  we 
inhale  its  black  and  fetid  exhalations!  A  feeling  of  helpless- 
ness steals  over  us  as  we  strain  our  vision  into  its  darkness,  and 


6  THE    IDEAL, 

find  that  here  our  organs  of  sight  are  useless.  As  we  impulsively 
reach  forth  our  hands,  we  feel  that  we  are  in  the  confines  of  a 
condition  where  touch  supplants  sight,  and  darkness  renders  per- 
ception useless, — the  sunless  realm  of  matter  through  which  life 
struggles  and  battles  its  way  up. 

As  our  eyes  strive  to  penetrate  the  gloom,  we  dimly  perceive 
a  tiny  ray  which  has  entered  through  a  minute  crevice  at  the 
door, — a  silvery  thread, — within  whose  beam  each  little  atom 
floating  past  gleams  and  sparkles  like  a  minute  star. 

At  our  feet,  in  the  darkness,  lies  a  common  potato, — an 
insignificant  bulb, — long  since  forgotten,  and  left  to  perish,  rot, 
and  die.  Outside,  the  great  busy  world  has  gone  on.  Conflicts 
have  taken  place,  kingdoms  have  melted,  principalities  have  risen, 
little  men  have  become  great,  great  men  have  become  little, 
changes  have  swept  over  civilization,  astounding  events  have 
taken  place;  while  humanity,  wondering  at  the  potency  of  them- 
selves, dream  not  of  the  universe  and  its  infinitude, — dream  not 
that  the  eternal  principle  of  hope  beats,  throbs  through  every 
particle  of  this  mighty  and  incomprehensible  structure, — thrills, 
animates  all  things  from  the  greatest  down  to  the  struggling 
germs  of  life  within  the  night-clad  matter  neath  our  feet.  Here, 
in  the  gloom  of  this  noisome  cellar  a  struggle  has  been  going  on, 
— a  struggle  of  hope,  great  as  ever  animated  the  world  outside,— 
a  struggle  involving  as  important  result  to  the  life  concerned  as 
ever  decided  the  founding  of  throne  or  destruction  of  empire. 
Never  did  hero  dare  and  do,  never  did  people  rise  and  fight  more 
bravely  to  reach  an  aspiration  than  this  insignificant  bulb,  dun- 
geoned and  lying  here  in  darkness.  This  slender  beam  of  light 
hath  revealed  to  it  an  avenue  of  escape.  Cold,  numb,  death-damp 
and  mildew  clinging  to  its  sides,  its  prayer  hath  slowly  resolved 
itself  into  a  pale,  transparent  vine.  Slowly  but  surely  it  has 
dragged  its  weary  length  over  and  along  towards  that  little  beam. 
Day  by  day  it  has  beheld  that  ray  fade,  and  leave  its  being  hope- 
less in  the  grasp  of  night;  felt  the  clasp  of  the  mildew, 
and  rot  pierce  its  veins  with  their  million  talons;  the 
chill  and  stupor  of  death  paralyze  it  into  vmconsciousness. 
Again  that  ray,  again  it  has  ^woke,  again  it  has  struggled, 
battled  on.  An  obstacle  has  intercepted  its  way;  reaching  it,  it 
has  climbed  over  and  down  again,  to  again  struggle  on, — on 
tov.'ards  the  beam.  Gradually  it  has  reached  the  crevice  through 
which  the  light  penetrates.  Softly,  v/ithin  a  brief  distance,  it 
lies  upon  the  earth;  the  crevice  is  just  above  it;  it  raises  itself, 
clinging  to  whatever  it  may,  and  now  it  reaches  the  crevice,  and 
springing  out  into  the  light,  it  bursts  into  vernal  leave?,  with  here 
and  there  a  blossom,  and  its  hymn  of  perfume  greets  the  source 
of  light,  life,  and  liberty. 

Even  as  this  struggling  vine,  down  through  all  the  ages  men 
have  beheld  that  same  ray  piercing  into  the  darkness  enshrouding 
them;  and  just  as  that  ray  has  pierced  the  gloom,  man  LaS 
reached  up  towards  it.  His  path  hath  ever  been  up;  never  once 
hath  he  fallen,  never  once  hath  he  faltered, — no  more  than  the 
vine  in  the  darkness.  Truth  from  the  bosom  of  the  Eternal 
Btreams  down  that  ray  into  the  darkness  of  matter,  and  up 


THE    IDEAL.  7 

towards  it  steadily  progressess  bumanity. 

That  ray  is  the  ideal;  and  the  purer,  the  higher,  the  sublimer 
that  ray,  the  greater  its  accomplishment  of  good. 

CHAPTER  II. 

SOCIALISM. 

SociALLSM  is  a  plant  of  growth,  not  a  spontaneous  generation, 
nor  product  of  political  combustion;  it  can  only  be  planted,  and 
can  only  grow,  in  a  republic.  In  monarchies  there  is  revolution; 
in  republics,  evolution.  Socialism  marches  with  thought,  not 
daggers;  it  brings  peace,  not  war;  and  acts  from  the  plane  of  love, 
not  hate. 

It  is  not  an  untried  theorem,  nor  a  speculative;  but  is  here,  is 
tried,  is  proven,  is  successful.  In  our  public  libraries,  in  our 
public  parks,  in  our  public  schools,  in  our  public  postoffices,  we 
find  the  idea  of  socialism;  we  find  public  necessities  run  and 
controlled  by  the  people.  It  is  not,  therefore,  a  proposition,  but 
a  demonstrated  remedy. 

Transportation,  telegraph,  express,  and  every  species  of  manu- 
facture, together  with  all  natural  necessities  of  the  community, 
including  land,  water,  air,  light,  and  all  pertaining  thereto,  are  as 
public  in  their  character  and  nature  as  are  our  educati*  al  and 
mail  departments,  and  every  circumstance  that  goverr  e  one 
certainly  governs,  or  should  govern,  the  other. 

If  a  public  necessity  is  conducted  by  private  individuals  con- 
trary to  the  satisfaction  and  interest  of  the  p)ublic,  there  is  but 
one  remedy,  and  that  remedy  is  for  the  public  to  oivn  and 
to  conduct  such  necessity  itself. 

So  long  as  the  public  refuse  to  take  charge  of  their  own  affairs, 
and  allow  their  affairs  to  be  managed  by  private  interests,  it  is 
folly  to  complain  about  monopolies,  trusts,  etc.;  for  private 
interest  is  assuredly  attending  only  to  itself,  and  to  expect  it  to 
attend  to  public  interest  is  certainly  folly. 

Nationalism  is  socialism  applied  to  a  nation;  extend  it  until  all 
nations  are  united  under  the  folds  of  its  idea,  and  you  have 
socialism.  Socialism,  or  the  brotherhood  of  man,  is  the  destiny 
of  the  race.  Every  step  the  mind  of  man  takes  is  in  that  direct- 
ion. Every  invention  of  labor-saving  machinery  forces  man, 
nil  he  or  will  he,  in  spite  of  his  ignorance,  closer  to  this  issue. 
Every  selfish  act  merely  draws  the  cord  tighter  around  the 
strangulating  neck  of  individualism.  Individualism — narrow- 
browed,  heavy-bowled,  little-eyed,  shallow-comprehensioned, 
self-coDscioned,  personal-importanced  (keen  and  sensitive  to  its 
own  feeling,  cold  and  dead  to  the  conditions  and  feelings  of  the 
many) — stands  to-day  in  posession  of  the  necessities  of  the  race. 
The  part  controls  what  is  necessary  to  tlie  existence  of  the  whole, 
— man;ig6s  the  necessities  of  the  whole  for  its  contracted 
ind.viaual  desires. 

The  race  has  its  artificial  as  well  as  its  natural  necessities. 
The  natural  necessities  of  the  whole,  a  portion  of  which  are  land 
and  water,  are  to-day  positively  under  the  control  of  individual- 
ism,  and   are  being  managed  contrary   to  the  well-being  of  the 


0  SOCIALISM. 

whole.  Light  and  air,  through  their  subtilty,  elude  in  a  great 
measure  individual  proprietorship,  which  fact  alone  saves  the 
human  rjice  from  complete  extinction;  for  were  it  a  fact  that 
individualism  could  control,  purchase  and  sell  these  necessities, 
i.  e.,  light  and  air,  even  as  it  does  now  land  and  water,  the  human 
race  would  entirely  disappear  and  perish  from  the  face  of  the 
earth  in  less  than  a  century, — would  die  of  asphyxiation,  or  the 
lack  of  a  proper  quantity  of  good  fresh,  pure  air  and  healthful 
light,  which  would  be  denied  by  their  greedy  proprietors. 

This  animalistic  propensity  of  personalism  to  grasp  the  earth 
and  famish  the  collectivity  is  admirably  described  by  the  Persian 
poet  Hatiz  in  his  couplet  upon  an  avaricious  individual,  wherein 
the  poet  sings: — 

"If  the  Sun,  in  his  money-safe,  instead  of  money,  lay. 

In  all  the  world,  none  would  again  behold  the  light  of  day." 

We  may  congratulate  ourselves,  therefore,  that  these  primal 
necessities  of  life,  air  and  light,  are  not  absolutely,  as  are  land 
and  water,  upon  the  shelves  and  counters,  and  under  the  deeds, 
bonds,  and  conveyances  of  individualistic  spoliation,  and  that 
they  are,  in  a  measure,  however  slight  though  it  be,  placed 
within  the  reach  of  the  whole,  the  only  real  and  bona  fide 
proprietor  of  the  world. 

It  is  to  place,  then,  beyond  the  control  of  the  part  all  other 
necessities  of  the  life  and  liberties  of  the  whole,  both  natural  and 
artificial,  including  land,  water,  transportation  in  all  its  branches, 
telegraphy,  express,  finance,  manufacture,  and  agriculture,  in- 
cluding also  every  other  species  of  collective  necessity,  and  in 
fact,  in  a  word,  to  put  an  end  to  the  elevation  of  one  at  the 
expense  and  degradation  of  the  whole, — it  is  for  this,  and  to  this 
end,  that  we  write. 

Socialism  has  arisen  on  the  horizon  of  American  thought,  like 
another  star  of  Bethlehem,  to  lead  the  wise  men  and  women  of 
our  land  to  the  advent  of  a  Saviour;  not  an  individual  Redeemer, 
but  a  collective  Redeemer, — redemption  of  the  whole  by  itself. 
He  said:  "  My  Father  is  greater  than  I."  This  greater  means, 
not  personalism,  but  collectivism.  The  personal  idea  is  the  Son, 
but  the  universal  idea  is  the  Father.  The  Son  the  part,  the 
Father  the  whole.  And  the  Son  (the  part)  can  only  receive  true 
greatness  through  the  Father  {the  whole.) 

If  it  be  the  truth,  as  we  have  stated,  that  personal  proprietor- 
ship of  air  and  light  would  be  of  such  dangerous  tendency,  then 
it  must  be  as  equally  true  that  personal  proprietorship  of  other 
necessities  of  life  is  of  equally  dangerous  a  tendency  to  the 
collective  life.  And  it  is  obvious  that  this  personal  proprietor- 
ship has  been  the  cold  and  the  mildew,  numbing  and  chilling  and 
poisomng  the  heart  of  the  empire,  until  ruins  upon  ruins  of 
civilizations  which  have  descended  into  immorality  and  disease 
present  themselves  on  every  hand.  My  country!  such  appears 
self-evident;  and  if  we  would  insure,  not  only  our  liberties,  but 
the  very  existence  of  the  race  itself,  we  must  place  all  things 
necessary  to  the  life  and  liberty  of  the  race  under  the  control 
and  proprietorship  of  the  race,  above  and  beyond  the  ignorance 
and    hate    of    limitation.    The  superiority  of  nationalism  over 


SOCIALiaM.  'J 

individualism  is  as  the  part  compared  to  the  wliole;  it  is  union 
compared  to  disunion;  while  individualism  is  as  a  eintxle  jud;^- 
meut  against  the  nation's  totality  of  thought, — the  desires  ot  one 
against  the  desires  of  the  entire  population.  In  a  final  word, 
individualism  is  the  essential  idea  of  monarchy, — the  right  of  an 
individual  to  trample  down  the  rights  of  the  many, — tlie  riglit  to 
make  wrong.  There  never  was  a  slave-driver  who  swung  his 
red-clotted  lash  against  quivering  flesh  of  man  but  who  timed  the 
swish  of  that  lash  to  the  song  of  his  "individual  liberty,"— 
claimed  the  right,  the  individual  right,  to  private  proprietorship 
in  man,  in  flesh,  blood,  and  mind, — the  liberty  of  Lucifer!  And 
again,  whenever  ruin-wrecking,  murder-brewirig,  convict-breeding 
rum  raises  its  heavy  breath,  it  voices  its  royal  claim  of  ^^indiv- 
idual rigid"  to  poison  the  community, — or  organize  a  "League 
OP  Freedom."  Freedom  for  the  serpent  to  nestle  itself  in  the 
heart  of  humanity! 

To-day  all  that  is  foul  in  the  sun's  sight,  all  which  exploits, 
contaminates,  and  debauches,  all  which  represents  evil,  from 
throne  to  dive,  is  based  upon  individual  greed;  while  all  which 
blesses,  comforts,  strengthens,  and  gives  life  abnegates  itself  and 
sinks  its  ego  in  the  Vv'elfare  of  the  whole.  And  only  the  ego  so 
sunk  can  ever  emerge  from  the  waters  of  the  eternal  in  this 
baptisement  of  principle  which  bestows  upon  the  soul  so  sunk 
its  degrees  of  the  everlasting. 

Sink  the  personal  in  the  national!  individualism  in  univer- 
salism!  Individualism  is  simply  limited  consciousness.  It  per- 
ceives either  merely  itself  alone,  or  but  a  small  circumference 
around  itself.  It  is  a  thing  low  down  in  the  scale  of  evolution, 
and  its  ruling  propensity  is  to  devour.  In  a  word,  it  is  composed 
mostly  of  stomach  and  mouth.  Brain  it  has,  but  certainly  of  a 
primordial  degree.  Where  the  organ  of  benevolence  domes  the 
brow  of  thought,  this  primal  manifestation  of  consciousness 
displays  but  a  hollow.  Its  mission  is  that  of  the  sponge, — 
absorption;  and  as  the  body  upon  which  it  fastens  fades,  sickens, 
and  decays,  this  vulture-life  fattens  and  bloats  until  it  dies  of 
gluttony,  inanition,  and  the  lack  of  essential  spirit.  In  Europe 
it  has  produced  monarchy;  in  America,  monopoly.  In  Russia  it 
presents  its  most  perfect  form, — a  personal  liberty  to  imprison 
and  murder  a  race, — individualism  raised  completely  above  the 
nation  or  right  of  the  nation, — a  part  superior  to  the  whole, — 
absolute  despotism.  Ay!  in  Russia  individualism  proprietorships 
thought. 

In  other  countries  individualism  tramples  down  the  rights  of 
the  whole  under  the  form  of  constitutional  monarchy.  The  con- 
stitutional part  of  this  kind  of  monarchy  is  simply  where  the 
whole  have  restricted  individualism  to  respect  certain  rights  of 
the  whole,  and  this  restriction  by  the  whole  is  the  ouly  decent 
thing  about  it.  In  this  sort  of  limited  individualism,  a  choice  set 
of  individuals  deem  it  necessary  for  their  individuality  to  predi- 
cate certain  claims  upon  the  accident  of  individual  birth;  or  in 
other  words,  because  their  individual  ancestors  were  guilty  of 
certain  natural  and  unnatural  crimes,  that  they,  their  descend- 
ants, therefore,  have  the  hereditary  or  individual  right  to  forever 


10  SOCIALISM. 

re-enact  the  outrages  upon  the  collectivity.  This  is  the  beautiful 
idea  of  the  unevoluted  ego;  and  if  you  wish  to  seek  a  spot  where 
the  wnevoluted  ego  rules,  and  all  idea  of  collectivism  is  yet  in 
the  seed,  go  down  into  the  earth,  where  the  light  comes  not,  and 
there  seek  a  choice  collection  of  individualistic  life.  Here  no 
collective  rights  prevail;  might  is  right,  and  the  problem  of 
hunger  is  quickly  solved  by  the  fat  eating  up  the  lean.  Even  so 
it  is  with  us,  in  the  absence  of  collectivism. 

No  more  conclusive  proof  that  the  control  of  our  public  insti- 
tutions by  individuals  is  destructive  to  society's  interests,  and 
positively  checks  evolution,  progress,  and  the  very  life  of  the 
masses,  can  be  adduced  than  the  presentation  of  the  fact  that 
to-day  the  telegraph  corporations  have  locked  up  in  their  vaults 
valuable  invention  upon  valuable  invention,  which,  if  put  into 
operation,  would  lessen  the  expense,  and  in  an  extraordinary 
measure  improve  the  telegraphic  system  now  in  vogue.  Thus 
these  great  advantages  of  progress  are  kept  back  and  with! i eld 
from  society  because  of  the  personal  selfish  greed  of  individuals 
who  control  these  public  institutions  thus  foolishly  allowed  to  be 
run  in  the  littleness  of  personal  desire,  and  not  in .  the  greatness 
of  the  interest  of  the  human  race. 

Individual  selfishness  refuses  to  inaugurate  these  improve- 
ments because  it  would  not  add  to  its  personal  profit;  refuses  to 
allow  the  race  to  progress;  refuses  to  allow  the  march  of  mind 
to  proceed;  refuses  to  allow  this  civilization  to  advance  a  step 
farther!  I  tell  you,  men  and  women  of  America,  if  you  continue 
to  allow  individualism  to  make  idols  of  itself  and  slaves  of 
humanity,  another  Sphinx  shall  yet  again  be  engulfed  in  the 
sands  of  another  desert! 

CHAPTER    III. 

MONAKCHIAL   AND    REPUBLICAN    NATIONALISMS. 

In  monarchies,  the  government  and  the  people  are  two  distinct 
entities;  monarchy  being  simply  individualism  controlling 
collectivism.  The  more  and  more  individualism  controlls  collec- 
tivism, the  more  and  more  the  despotism.  In  the  dark  ages  of 
history,  when  entire  races  were  held  bound  in  chains,  fciggote, 
and  dungeons,  we  find  individuals  raised  and  invested  with 
extraordinary  powers,  and  the  collectivity  correspondingly 
depressed. 

In  the  feudal  period,  in  the  monarchial  period,  and  in  this  the 
oligarchial  period,  we  find  the  same  situation,  viz.,  individualism 
raised  above  and  controlling  collectivism.  In  fact,  it  is  the 
struggle  of  the  ages:  individual  selfishness,  ignorance,  and  hate 
against  collective  universality,  wisdom,  and  love. 

The  words  "individualism"  and  "property"  are  one  and 
synonymous.  Individualism  is  the  division  of  humanity  into 
distinct  and  separate  parts;  property  is  the  division  of  wealth 
into  distinct  and  separate  parts.  Individualism  and  property, 
therefore,  divide  humanity,  and  divide  all  pertaining  to  humanity, 
into  laborious,  antagonistic,  and  clashing  aspirations.  Individ- 
ualism and  property,  therefore,  represent  the  division  of  mankind, 


MONARCHIAL.    AND    REPUBLICAN    NATIONALISMS.  11 

and  collectivism,  the  union  and  consequent  harmony  of  humanity. 
Hell  is  disunion,  separation,  divided  interest,  divided  aim,  divided 
proprietorship,  and  consequently  a  condition  of  curses,  hate, 
confusion,  and  sulTering;  while  heaven,  its  opposite,  is  its  opposite 
condition, — a  united  or  collectivized  interest,  aim,  proprietorship, 
order,  and  power. 

This  truth  Christ  endeavored  to  impart,  and  for  which  individ- 
ualism crucified  him.  And  until  man  learns  this  truth,  earth 
must  be  a  hell.  And  until  man  learns  that  in  union  he  can  alone 
find  f rue  division,  this /aZ.se  division,  based  upon  individualism, 
will  continue  to  inflict  him  with  sorrow,  suffering,  and  death. 

Hitherto  almost  all  law  has  been  conceived  by  individualism 
and  for  individualism.  Hardly  is  there  a  law  to  genuinely  pro- 
tect the  collectivity.  The  rights  of- individualism  and  its  selfish- 
ness are  everywhere  defended,  sustained,  and  preserved;  the 
rights  of  the  whole,  of  the  collectivity,  totally  disregarded, 
scarcely  contemplated.  This  is  so  because  individualism  has 
merely  comprehended  itself  apart  from  the  whole,  and  not 
comprehended  itself  as  an  inseparable  indivisibility  of 
the  whole.  Every  aim  and  desire  of  man's  inmost  for  his 
elevation  and  his  expansion  is  an  inseparable  indivisibility  of  the 
whole,  and  cannot  be  attained  outside  of  or  antagonistic  to  the 
collectivity. 

The  whole  world's  love  should  be  for  every  child.  The  whole 
world's  land,  water,  air,  light,  and  comfort  should  be  the  heritage 
of  every  mother's  little  one.  Motherhood  and  fatherhood  must 
learn  to  extend  the  same  fullness  or  love  which  they  extend  to 
their  individual  progeny  unto  every  child.  Then  shall  every 
mother's  child  receive  the  love  of  every  mother,  and  not  as  it  is 
now  in  this  individualistic  proprietorship  of  love,  each  child 
receiving  the  love  of  each  child's  mother,  and — shall  I  say  it? 
No!   I  will  leave  it  unwritten. 

In  republics  the  government  and  the  people  are  one,  and  all 
public  evils  are  consequently  self-inflictions, — self-impositions  of 
the  people.  If  individualism  reigns  and  ruins  in  a  republic,  it  is 
because  the  people  do  not  understand  the  very  principle  upon 
which  their  republic  is  founded;  that  a  republic  is  collective 
government,  and  that  collective  government  should  be  extended 
over  every  public  necessity.  If  collective  government  is  superior 
to  individual  government,  or  monarchy,  then  collective  proprie- 
torship of  the  people's  public  necessities  must  equally  be  super- 
ior to  individual  proprietorship  of  public  necessities.  And  this 
is  the  only  trouble  in  the  American  republic.  Collective  proprie- 
torship has  merely  been  extended  unto  government,  and  individ- 
ual proprietorship  over  necessities  allowed  to  remain.  Collective 
proprietorship  over  government,  or  a  republican  form  of  govern- 
ment, is  the  first  step  and  necessary  condition  for  the  final  and 
inevitable  consequence  of  a  collective  control  over  natural  and 
artificial  necessities  of  the  people.  And  thisMs  coming,  and  must 
come,,  just  as  sure  as  wo  have  a  republic,  and  liberty  breeds 
liberty. 

Circle  by  circle  the  tree  expands,  and  circle  by  circle  shall  the 
republic  encircle  her  public  proprietorship  over  banking,  railroad 


12  MONARCHIAL,    AND    REPUBLICAN     NATIONALISMS. 

telegraph,  and  by  and  by  over  land,  water,  air,  and  light.  There 
need  be  no  calaslrophy,  no  cataclysm,  no  upheaval, — no  one  hurt, 
but  every  one  benefitted.  Nothing  can  stop  the  physical  and 
mental  growth  of  Uncle  Sam. 

In  monarchies,  if  you  turn  the  banks  over  to  the  government, 
you  turn  them  over  to  a  court  or  monarch;  if  you  turn  the 
railroads,  the  telegraphs,  or  the  lands  or  waters  over  to  the 
government,  you  turn  them  over  to  a  court  or  monarch;  but  in 
this  American  republic,  if  you  turn  the  banks,  railroads, 
telegraphs,  lands,  waters,  or  any  other  institution  over  to  tlie 
government,  you  turn  them  over  to  the  people,  and  turn  them 
into  a  collective  proprietorship.  Thus  monarchial  nationalism  is 
but  intensifying  individualism,  while  republican  nationalism  is 
the  abolition  of  it.  Thus  the  triumph  of  nationalism  in  America 
means  the  fall  of  monarchy  in  Europe. 

CHAPTER  IV. 

INDIVIDUAL   LIBERTY   AND   COLLECTIVE    LIBERTY. 

In  the  beginning  the  ego  recognizes  but  one  self;  in  the  end, 
it  recognizes  the  whole  self.  In  no  manner  can  the  ego  recognize 
the  whole  self  save  by  an  interchange  of  thought  and  action  with 
all  otiier  egoes  resolved  into  one, — into  a  collectivity. 

If  there  were  naught  but  individualism,  and  no  collectivism, 
then  individuals  could  only  interchange  thought  and  action  with 
individuals,  and  never  could  connect  in  thought  or  action  with 
that  greater  indi\iilual,  the  nation,  which  is  constituted  by  all 
individuals  being  correlated  into  one.  Surely  the  philosophy 
which  merely  considers  the  individualities  of  men  as  separate 
units,  and  which  does  not  recognize  man  in  the  concrete,  does  not 
recognize  but  one  portion  of  existence;  does  not  recognize  but  a 
portion  of  the  entire  fact.  The  v/elfare  of  man  in  the  concrete  is 
as  important  and  as  necessary  a  fact  as  is  the  welfare  of  man  in 
the  individual;  and  as  the  concrete  should  guard  the  welfare  of 
the  individual,  so  should  liie  individual  guard  the  welfare  of  the 
concrete,  and  this  he  can  only  perform  through  a  collectivity, 
and  this  can  only  be  perfo'-med  for  him  by  a  collectivity. 

When  man  rises  to  this  grand  truth  of  guarding  himself  in  the 
concrete  as  well  as  guarding  himself  in  his  individuality,  he  then 
sinks  his  individuality  in  the  welfare  of  the  whole,  and  the  whole, 
returning  his  devotion,  sinks  itself  in  him,  and  he  thus  receives 
nourishment  and  strength  from  the  whole.  Thus  the  spiritual 
and  physical  strength  of  his  country  is  his.  freely  to  partake  of, 
and  to  become  strong  thereby.  And  so  surely  as  all  this  is  true, 
just  so  surely  does  he  lose  all  this  when  he  refuses  to  recognize, 
and  but  guards  merely  his  own  individuality,  regarding  and 
considering  not  the  universal  side  of  his  nature. 

Thus  if  man's  individual  state  is  to  be  strong,  his  collective 
state  must  be  strong.  If  his  individual  state  is  to  be  healthy, 
his  collective  state  must  be  healthy.  If  his  individual  state  is  to 
be  virtuous,  his  collective  state  must  be  virtuous.  If  his  indiv- 
idual state  is  to  be  free,  his  collective  state  must  be  free;  for 
individual  liberty  can  only  be  attained  through  collective  liberty. 


INDIVIDUAL    AND    COLLECTIVE    LIBERTY.  13 

Only  can  the  individual's  full  powers  be  free  and  jnbound 
in  ii  nation  where  the  nation  is  itself  free  and  unbound  from 
individual  control  of  its  necessities.  The  proprietorship  of  these 
necessities  by  individuals  is  the  one  great  error  which  enslaves 
the  nation.  When  the  nation  is  enslaved,  all  individuals  in  it  are 
enslaved.  Therefore  for  individuals  to  be  free,  all  individual 
control  of  their  necessities  must  be  abolished. 

Individualism  foolishly  imagines  that  by  individual  posession 
of  wealth  it  is  placed  above  the  general  condition,  und  has. 
secured  safety,  peace,  and  liberty.  But  it  has  not;  for  the 
general  injustice  which  its  error  infiicts  upon  society  ourrounds 
it  v/ith  disease  and  crime.  In  vain  it  surrounds  itself  with 
physicians  to  protect  it  from  a  diseased  society;  in  vain  it  sur- 
rounds itself  with  armed  officials,  police  and  soldiers,  to  protect 
it  from  a  criminalized  society.  C!ontagion  spreads^and  crime 
increases,  and  the  individual  proprietor  is  hastened  to  his  grave 
by  the  general  contagion.  The  vultures  of  law  hover  round  hi& 
departure,  circling  round  and  round  his  tempting  acquirements- 
as  carrons  in  the  air.  Looking  backward  over  his  individualistic 
life,  he  beholds  a  dark-drawn  scene  of  discordant  struggle  of 
unbappiness  and  unrest.  The  peace  he  expected  through 
individual  accumulation  found  no  peace  for  him.  Every  shadow 
to  him  contained  a  thief;  every  sound  an  assassin;  friendship  to 
him  merely  concealed  a  dark  design;  and  gentle  charily  appeared 
but  a  trick  to  tap  his  individual  stores.  Sounds  and  outward 
trappings  follow  him  to  his  windowiess  house;  but  not  one  sound- 
is  for  him,  not  one  tinsel  trapping  for  him,  but  for  that  which  hei 
could  not  take  with  him;  for  it  was  not  his  to  take.  All  that  he 
hath  taken  with  him  is  his  narrowness  and  his  shriveledness,  and 
that  he  hath  surely  taken, — taken — where?  taken  with  him — 
for  what?  Crowds  gather  along  the  curbs  to  behold  the  cele- 
bration of  his  departure.  The  ragged  smile  and  jest  among  the 
multitude,  here  and  there  are  imprecations.  In  the  carriages  are 
people  crape-clad,  who  ponder  behind  their  crape  upon  the  con- 
tents of  his  will.  And  now  a  gorgeous  monument  is  reared. 
But  why  its  inscription?  Why  ironically  satirize  the  dead? 
Why  not  have  left  the  polished  stone  blank  and  bare?  The 
wealth  he  deemed  sufficient  for  his  heirs  now  sinks  beneath  the 
quicksands  of  legal  mysteries;  orphan  and  widow  are  plucked  of 
their  legacy,  thrown  to  the  contagion  and  crime  of  a  general 
heritage.  Theft  steals  in  the  darkness  upon  his  sepulcher,  and 
his  })oor  remains  are  abducted  for  extortion.  Sad,  sad  denoue- 
ment! Dark,  dark  history!  Individual  proprietorship!  this  is 
the  story  of  a  prince;  but  equal  in  its  sadness  is  the  sequel  of  thy 
serf. 

Individual  accumulations  can  yield  no  certain  security;  for  the 
conditions  which  individual  accumulations  create  are  dangerous 
to  security.  Collective  proprietorship  of  wealth  and  the  brother- 
hood and  sisterhood  of  the  nation  can  only  yield  a  positive  and 
certain  security.  With  the  disappearance  of  individual  acquisit- 
ion, the  legal  vulture  would  be  gone  with  hia  legal  traps  and  legal 
pitfalls  for  the  studied  absorption  of  the  orphan's  and  widow's 
beqest.     With   the    disappearance    of    individual    accumulation 


li  INDIVIDUAL,    AND    COLLECTIVE    LIBERTY. 

would  disappear  the  crime  which  individual  poverty  through 
generations  hereditary  yields.  There  being  no  individual  pro- 
prietorship, the  individual  would  have  no  object  to  pilfer;  for 
action  ceases  devoid  of  object.  The  entire  wealth  of  the  nation, 
its  opportunities,  advantages,  sustenance,  and  all  that  it  possessed 
to  yield  strength,  comfort,  happiness,  health,  and  peace  would  be 
for  each  and  for  all.  Every  child  would  be  reared  in  the  moral 
teachings  of  the  national  kindergartens;  every  avenue  of  infor- 
mation, and  knowledge,  art,  and  science,  open  to  all;  air,  light, 
water,  laud,  money,  and  machinery,  all,  and  more,  would  pour 
their  wealth  and  released  resources  into  the  lap  of  a  common 
brotherhood.  And  as  the  power,  strength,  order,  intelligence, 
and  morality  of  the  race  improve,  so  proportionately  diseases 
would  disappear  with  the  low,  unhealthy,  discordant  and 
destructive  conditions  concomitant  of  present  individual  control. 
The  more  individualism  refuses  to  guard  the  collective  side  of 
itself,  the  less  individual  liberty  will  it  have;  individuals  will 
trample  down  the  rights  of  individuals,  and  individuals  form  with 
individuals  to  exploit  individuals.  In  its  attempt  to  individually 
control  the  means  of  subsistence,  individualism  will  find  the 
stronger  ahead  in  the  race,  and  the  cunning  of  the  brute  ahead 
of  all.  Being  the  brute  condition  of  life,  collectivism  or  society 
not  being  abolishable  any  more  than  individuahsm,  there  will 
still  be  a  collectivism;  but  it,  too,  will  be  bound  and  controlled 
by  the  strong  and  the  lowly  cunning,  as  are  the  necessities;  and 
individualism  will  find  that  in  its  refusal  to  recognize  and  to 
defend  the  rights  of  the  whole,  it  has  enslaved  and  wronged  itself. 

All  selfishness,  all  oppression,  all  injustice,  and  all  government 
spring  from  individualism.  Individualism  is  but  another  name 
for  government.  A  collectivity  or  national  co-operation  is  not  a 
government;  it  is  self-control  of  the  whole  by  itself,  and  self-con- 
trol is  no  government.  Self-control  being  the  highest  attainable 
condition  of  the  ego,  is  therefore  the  highest  form  of  its  liberty. 
A  nation  whose  collectivity  is  thus  self  controlled  is  a  bona  fide 
free  nation.  Where  the  collectivities  step  from  under  the  rule  of 
individuals,  and  where  they  assume  complete  conti'ol  of  them- 
selves collectively,  and  all  pertaining  to  themselves  collectively; 
where  they  abolish  every  individual  proprietorsiiip,  and  only 
recognize  themselves  as  a  whole  in  the  ownership  of  themselves 
and  the  ownership  of  all  pertaining  to  themselves, — they  are  then 
in  the  form  and  have  thus  established  their  collective  liberty. 

Individual  liberty  and  collective  liberty  are  one  and  insepara- 
ble. 

In  a  word,  whenever  a  people  enter  into  a  perfect  copartnership 
of  the  whole,  and  pool  their  wealth  and  interest,  then  all  govern- 
ment from  that  moment  ceases;  cheir  personal  desires  and 
interests  being  pooled  and  carried  out  according  to  the  will  of 
the  whole,  they  have  substituted  co-operation  for  government. 

Individual  liberty  must  have,  and  positively  must  have,  exactly 
this  atmosphere  and  condition  of  society  for  its  unfoldment;  for 
environments  are  molds;  and  only  when  the  nation  is  thus  freed 
from  individual  lust  of  property,  and  is  therefore  self -controlled, 
can  self-controlled  men   and  women   be  evoluted;  and  self-con 


INDIVIDUAL    AND     COLLECTIVE     LIBERTY.  15 

trolled  men  and  women  means  individual  liberty.  Thus  collective 
liberty  and  individual  liberty  are  identical  in  philosophy,  and 
their  cause  a  unit. 

Individuals  must  learn  and  must  realize  that  their  life,  happi- 
ness, and  liberty  are  correlated  with  the  whole;  that  they  cannot 
evolve  the  higher  forms  of  either  of  these  apart  from  the  whole. 
This  is  the  great  truth  of  truths;  this  is  the  one  truth,  and  the 
most  important  truth,  yet  to  be  incorporated  in  our  decalogue  of 
practice;  this  is  the  truth  which  underlies  the  brotherhood  of 
man;  and  this  is  the  truth  which  underlies  the  virtue  of  love  and 
the  value  of  wisdom. 

Now,  then,  we  would  cast  a  statue.  The  statue  we  would  cast 
is  individual  liberty.  We  seek  a  mould  or  condition;  that  mould 
and  that  condition  is  popular  co-operation, — nationalism. 

What  does  my  individualism  need  to  attain  its  full  stature  for 
the  unfoldment  of  its  greatness?  It  certainly  does  not  need  to 
put  the  sun  in  its  safe,  nor  the  moon  in  its  pocket;  it  does  not 
need  a  mortgage  on  space  and  all  things  therein;  nor  does  it  need 
all  the  beds  in  the  world,  nor  all  the  food  in  the  world,  nor  all  the 
houses  in  the  world,  nor  all  the  hats,  garments,  tools,  machines, 
food,  cattle,  horses,  and  live-stock;  nor  does  it  need  all  the  land^ 
water,  light,  and  air  to  unfold  its  individual  greatness;  although 
there  be  certain  low,  primitive-life  manifestations,  with  certain 
round,  sack-like  bodies,  fitting  close  to  earth,  walking  upon 
hands  and  feet  to  fit  the  closer,  with  little  eyes  seeing  little 
things,  with  mouth  protruding  earthward,  with  tusks  to  rend  its 
brothers,  and  with  grunts  for  the  necessity  of  others,  whose 
nature  deems  it  otherwise, — whose  nature  deems  that  the  unfold- 
ment of  greatness  lies  in  the  unfoldment  of  snout,  the  growth  of 
tusks,  and  the  expansion  of  abdominal  control. 

This  thing  is  not  man,  but  is  in  man,  and  predominates  his 
present  individualistic  civilization.  But  again  we  ask,  What 
does  my  individuality  need  to  unfold  it  to  its  highest  stature?  It 
needs  free  and  unlimited  scope  to  incorporate  within  itself  all 
that  is  necessary  to  its  spiritual  and  physical  life,  happiness,  and 
liberty.  For  this  purpose,  it  needs  the  establishment  of  con- 
ditions of  nature  and  of  society  wherein  it  shall  enjoy  free  and 
unlimited  access  to  whatever  is  necessary  to  this  end;  and  the 
first  step  to  such  conditions  is  the  suppression  of  this  thing  with 
the  snout  and  tusks.  For  the  fundamental  principle  upon  which 
my  access  to  whatever  is  necessary  to  me  is  based,  lies  in  the 
supremacy  of  a  condition  wherein  I  recognize  every  other  ego's 
necessary  access  to  the  same,  and  allow  to  each  and  to  all  that 
which  I  discover  necessary  to  my  own  unfoldment.  Why  is  this 
the  necessary  condition  upon  which  my  opportunity  is  based? 
Because,  if  I  refuse  others  access  to  the  stores  of  existence, 
unlimited  in  their  abundance, — an  abundance  necessitating 
no  fear  of  exhaustion,  and  therefore  necessitating  no  need  of 
proprietorshiping, — if  I  refuse  others  access  to  these  stores,  then 
I  open  up  these  stores  to  individual  control,  and  make  wai*  where 
peace  before  existed.  I  waste  my  life  standing  between  my 
brother  and  his  necessities,  instead  of  enjoying  myself  and  leav- 
ing him  to  enjoy  from  the  exhaustless  store  as  well.     And  this  is 


16  INDIVIDUAL.    AMD    COLLECTIVE    LIBERTY. 

individual  proprietorship  of  the  earth  and  the  earth's  fullness. 
This  is  what  the  philosophers,  poets,  painters,  patriots,  martyrs, 
and  every  noble  impulse  of  mind  has  endeavored  to  abolish;  this 
is  what  individualism  has  lit  her  faggots  to  perpetuate,  by 
burning  the  devoted  bodies  of  our  saints  of  thought;  this  is  why 
dungeons  have  been  built  into  the  earth  in  the  endeavor  to  wall 
down,  to  bolt  and  bar  around,  and  shut  out  from  man  the 
truth  of  collective  proprietorship.  Walling  in  ideas!  Endeavor- 
ing to  stop  this  viewless  current  of  the  star's  life, — this  thing 
which  comes  and  goes  from  us  upon  unseen,  unfelt  wires! 
Individual  selfishness!  still  the  sea's  beat  if  you  can;  but  you 
cannot  still  the  resistless  beat  of  thought.  Mind  is  ever  in  direct 
connection,  and  its  intelligences  penetrate  all  substances. 
Thought  is  a  hard  thing  to  catch, — a  hard  thing  to  hold, — and 
let  me  tell  thee,  proud  City  of  the  Lakes!  it  is  a  yet  harder  thing 
to  hang.  It  passes  from  brain  to  brain,  belongs  to  no  one,  and 
suggests  these  glorious  pictures  and  illuminations  of  truth  from 
star  to  star! 

Man  must  learn  and  comprehend  the  laws  of  association.  All 
that  blesses  man  to-day  ke  has  received  through  association. 
Individualism  aims  to  establish  might  as  right;  collectivism 
aims  to  establish  right  as  might.  Collectivism  succors  the  weak; 
individualism  crushes  it.  Individualism  contemplates  itself; 
collectivism  contemplates  the  entirety.  Collectivism  gives  birth 
to  the  race,  sustains,  protects,  and  unfolds  it;  individualism  of 
itself  produces  nothing,  protects  and  unfolds  nothing;  all  the 
good  that  it  can  do  is  to  add  itself  to  the  good  and  thus  become 
better. 

Nationalism  is  the  last  and  highest  step  in  political  economy, — 
the  abolition  of  individualistic  passions  and  lusts.  The  next  step 
above  it  is  dazzling  to  contemplate. 

Individualism  has  been  so  deadly  and  hostile  to  individualism 
that  collectivism  has  hitherto  but  confined  its  efforts  lo  prolect- 
ing  individuals  from  individuals, — from  individual  hate,  rapacity, 
slander,  theft,  and  murder.  It  has  at  length  unfolded  its  many 
parts  into  the  recognition  of  collective  truths,  and  with  this 
advanced  recognition,  collectivism  now  proceeds  to  a  higher  state 
of  protection,  and  instead  of  protecting  mon  singly,  it  now, 
through  nationalism,  proceeds  to  protect  them  from  each  oilier 
€71  masse,  by  going  to  the  root  of  individual  conflict,  i.  e.,  their 
private  proprietorship  of  each  other's  necessities. 

This  collective  protection  at  once  puts  an  end  to  their  million 
private  antagonisms  growing  out  of  their  million  private  proprie- 
torships, inaugurates  a  reign  of  order,  and  abolishes  this  present 
pandemonium  of  confusion.  The  most  dibolical  acts  upon  the 
registers  of  infamy  spring  from  the  private  proprietorship  of 
wealth, — individual  conflict,  murder,  poisoning,  assassination, 
midnight  and  daylight  pillage, — all,  and  worse,  have  their  black 
roots  deep  down  in  private  proprietorship.  This  is  the  serpent 
which  corrupts  and  debauches.  For  individual  property  man 
has  spotted  with  blood  his  hands,  and  women  with  sin  her  soul. 
Come,  collef^tivism!  And  let  the  curtain  down  upon  this  horrid 
play. 


INDIVIDUAL    AND    COLLECTIVE    LIBERTY.  17 

And  when  the  curtain  is  down  upon  it,  reflect  these  words  in 
letters  of  light;  from  thy  stereopticon  of  reason: — 

Ye  who  seek  liberty  and  would  find  it,  know,  then,  that  ye  can 
only  find  your  liberty  in  the  liberty  of  your  fellow-men.  Ye  who 
seek  happiness  and  would  have  it,  know,  then,  ye  can  only  find 
your  hapipness  in  the  happiness  of  your  fellow-men;  you  can 
only  extract  happiness  from  their  happiness;  and  if  you  would 
seek  to  make  yourself  happy,  make  others  happy.  That  what  ye 
do  unto  another,  ye  do  unto  yourself. 

CHAPTER  V. 

HEAVEN  AND  HELL — A  VISION. 

And  I  had  a  vision, — a  large  plain  reaching  away  into  the  dis- 
tance, and  a  voice  said,  "Behold!"  and  I  saw  the  plain  covered 
with  people,  across  whose  brows  I  saw  the  legend, 

"hate" 

Prom  the  concourse  rose  sobs  and  curses  as  flames  rise  from  a 
pit  and  there  were  women  with  babes  at  famished  breasts,  and 
others  of  horrid  ribaldry  who  joined  men  in  an  unspeakable 
feast,  and  youths  of  pale  and  premature  age  working  out  things 
of  terrible  import.  Virgins  bartering  virginity,  and  wrinkled 
hags  merchandising  babes.  And  there  were  low  habitations; 
places  of  festering  things,  whose  atmosphere  hung  thick  with 
putrid  germs,  where  lepers  crawled  within  its  shadow  and 
laughed  with  cavernous  jaws.  And  from  vast  factories  every- 
where arose  great  clouds  of  steam,  and  dust  and  heat  rising  up 
from  countless  serfs,  who  made  and  made  and  made,  yet  who 
never  reached  nearer  the  posession  of  what  they  made.  Their 
faces  spoke  of  unutterable  sufferings,  and  across  their  brows, 
as  across  the  brows  of  all,  I  read  the  legend, 

"hate" 

From  out  this  scene  of  wretchedness  rose  palaces  wherein 
splendor  covered  up  sicknesses  and  sad  unrests;  where  palsy- 
stricken,  bloated  bodies  hung  round  weasened  little  souls,  in 
which  the  virtues  had  long  ceased  action.  And  here  were 
churches,  for  churches  are  everywhere,  and  from  their  spires 
stood  golden  pennants  also  inscribed  with  the  legend, 

"hate" 

And  men  in  robes  from  alters  hurled  forth  anathemas  broad- 
cast upon  the  plain. 

And  I  asked  my  soul,  "what  awful  place  is  this?"  and  my  soul 
answered,  "  this  you  now  behold  is  hell,  the  bottomless  pit,  the 
place  where  eternal  strife  and  disunion  reign." 

Then  I  beheld  a  demon  at  my  side,  a  man,  a  warrior  dark,  of 
proud  and  haughty  mein,  across  whose  angry  brow  the  same 
dread  legend  ran,  and  as  I  gazed  into  his  sneering,  rankling  eyes 
a  flame  swept  o'er  my  brow,  before  so  cool,  but  now  blasted  by 
the  presence  of  him,  the  Prince  of  Suffering,  for  'twas  he.  My 
heart  leaped  with  rage,  and  I  hissed  into  his  very  eyes  "Fiend." 

He  laughed  with  a  sneer,  that  seemed  to  rankle  my  very  cen- 
ter with  its  poisen,  and  said  to  me  the   words,  "Mine  own"! 


18  HEAVEN    AND    HELL— A    VISION. 

"Liar!"  I  cried,  "I  defy  thee!  I  hate  thee!"  then,  too,  across  my 
brow,  I  felt  the  deadly  legend, 

"hate" 

"Ha,  ha!  thou  hatest ,  dost  thou?  Well  know,  then,  that  there 
is  bub  one  'hate,'  and  that  is  'Hate,'  and  that  which  hates  in  thee 
is  me,  and  that  which  is  me  in  thee  is  mine." 

And  there  came  a  weeping  woman  on  the  plain,  in  her  arms  a 
dead  child,  and  she  cried:  "Justice,  justice!  by  the  memory  of 
this  dead  child,  whom  cruel  injustice  slew,  I  cry  from  my  soul's 
depths  for  'justice'!" 

And  the  demon  appeared  before  her  and  cried:  "Nay,  cry 
thou  for  'revenge  revenge  is  sweet'!"  And  at  this  word  the 
legend  in  my  forehead  burned  deeper,  and  a  great  shout  arose, — 
for  revenge  is  the  countersign  of  hell; — and  the  demon  spake 
again  and  asked: 

'fWho  slew  the  child?  Who  oppresses  thee?  Is  it  not  thy 
brothers?" 

And  hell  with  one  tongue  cried:     "It  is  our  brothers." 

''Then  hate  thy  brother,"  cried  the  demon. 

"We  do  and  shall,"  they  cried. 

"Divide,  denounce,  and  disunite!" 

"We  will,  we  will,"  they  fiercely  responded. 

"Justice  and  right  loves  blood.     So  kill!" 

And  the  woman  with  the  starved  child  muttered  between  her 
teeth,    "Yes  kill." 

And  in  one  of  the  palaces  a  rich  man  stood,  his  brow  stamped 
with  the  common  mark  of  all;  and  at  his  side  stood  the  demon, 
and  the  rich  man  joyfully  embraced  and  hailed  him,  ^'Dear 
friend,"  and  saia: — 

"Thou  told  us  if  we  did  not  reap  wealth,  our  fellow-men  would 
starve  us.  In  this  race  I  have  won,  and  they  hate  me;  but  my 
goodly  wealth  pro  ects  me,  and  I  can  pay  hate  for  hate,  with 
interest." 

"Hate  would  kill.  Why  not  kill  that  which  hates  thee?" 
whispered  the  demon. 

And  the  rich  man  muttered  between  his  teeth,  "Yes  kill!" 

And  now  a  great  commotion  arose  in  hell,  and  the  vast  steam- 
ing, sweating,  factory  millions  gathered  and  divided  into  factions; 
and  certain  bands  hurled  the  epitaphs  "scab"  and  "traitor"  at 
their  fellows,  until  the  brands  upon  their  foreheads  fairly  glowed 
and  sparkled,  till  curses  rent  tne  air,  and  blood  began  to  flow. 

And  again,  in  other  parts,  deadly  emeutes  took  place.  Servants 
of  the  palaces  issued  forth  upon  the  dangerous  throng,  and  swept 
them  down  with  diabolical  instruments  made  by  the  victims 
for  their  own  destruction;  floods  devastated  the  plain,  delugeing 
and  drowning; fires  consumed  innumerable  habitations,  and  tlie 
shriekes  of  women  and  wails  of  children  arose  like  the  sobbings 
within  a  tempest.  And  I  said  to  myself,  "This  is  the  end,  at 
last." 

So  it  seems,  yet  not  so  it  proved,  for  I  heard  a  distant  harmony, 
and  a  silence  came,  like  the  cessation  of  a  wind  and  the  very 
atmosphere  stood  still.  And  there  before  me  on  the  plain,  stood 
an  angel,  whiter  than   the  stars'  white  fire,  and  fairer  than  iheir 


HEAVEN     AND     HELL — A     VISION.  19 

Bweetast  flower  and  as  she  moved,  the  fires  and  floods  adjourned; 
for  slie  could  rule  the  elements.     I  heard  her  say: — 

"Peace!" 

Then  raising  her  hand,  like  a  ray  of  sunlight  through  depart- 
ing storm  went  forth  her  words: — 

'•Love  ye  one  another." 

And  then  again  she  added; — 

"Look  upon  thy  fellow-man  with  wisdom,  and  thou  shalt  have 
love.  Feel  for  thy  fellow-man  with  love  and  thou  shalt  have 
wisdom  and  having  wisdom  and  love,  have  heaven." 

And  a  great  change  came  o'er  the  plain.  Prom  the  people's 
brows  the  legend  disappeared,  and  in  its  place  circled  a  lovely 
aura;  and  they  cried  a'loud: — 

'i  We  love." 

And  as  they  looked  upon  each  other  through  eyes  of  love,  lo! 
each  from  their  former  repulsiveness  grew  beautiful  and  wise; 
and  their  wisdom  thus  gained  through  love  again  reciprocated 
love  until  not  a  trace  had  remained  of  all  the  past  in  all  the 
plain. 

And  across  the  wide,  wide  scene,  a  splendor  and  a  grandeur 
now  arose.  But  best  of  all,  oh  the  peace!  the  peace  and  strength 
within  the  blessed  atmosphere.  And  from  my  soul  came  forth 
these  words — 

"Here  we  live  forever;  for  this  is  heaven!" 

And  yet  a  sadness  came  o,er  mo  and  I  sighed  and  asked,  where 
is  he,  the  demon,  the  unhappy  minister  of  wretchedness,  the 
Prince  of  Hate, — oh,  what  of  him  in  this  hour  of  peace?" 

"Ffiar  not,"  she  said;  "love  redeems  all.  Behold  through  me, 
thy  demon." 

I  looked,  and  loMhe  Angel  of  Love  transparant  was;  and 
through  her  radiance  I  beheld  the  demon."    But  how  clianged! 

The  brand  of  hate  Avas  gone,  and  on  his  brow  rested  a  calm 
more  peaceful  than  the  blue  depths.  The  inwardness  of  exist- 
ence lay  in  his  eyes,  and  sweet  meditation  sat  in  every  feature. 
His  form  embodied  the  power  and  majesty  of  the  universe. 
Stately  and  grand,  and  eloquent  as  nature,  evidencing  will  as 
irresistable,  yet  as  modest  as  the  sleeping  child  resting  uncon- 
scious.    And  he  spake  and  said: — 

*'You  beheld  me  the  masculine  princicle  of  existance:  devoid 
of  love,  its  feminine;  you  shall  behold  the  feminine  principle  of 
existance  devoid  of  the  masculine — of  wisdom — of  me — see! 

I  gazed — heavens!  could  it  be?  Her  radiance  had  died  away, 
and  where  her  form  once  gave  out  light,  now  fell  shadows  for 
she  had  sank  and  became  matter  devoid  of  spirit,  and  upon  her 
brow  I  read  the  word  "Ignorance".  And  yet  a  woman  still  she 
was,  and  conceived,  but  only  brought  forth  demons  devoid  of 
virtue's  semblance.  Reptiles  formed  her  locks,  and  her  eyes  put 
forth  a  force  that   sickened;  and  I  cried:     "Oh,  take  her  away!" 

Nay,  then!  Behold  her  through  vie,  as  you  behold  me  through 
her  for  she  is  now  but  love  unilluminated  and  in  darkness,  the 
feminine  principle  of  existance  devoid  of  the  masculine  of  Wis- 
dom. Even  as  I  became  Hate  devoid  of  her,  she  now  becomes 
Ignorance  devoid  of  me.     Parted,  we  become  the  twin   parents  of 


20  HEAVEN    AND     HELL, — A    VISION. 

hell:  Hate  and  Ignorance.  United,  we  become  the  twin  parents 
of  heaven:  Wisdom  and  Love.  Your  civilization  is  but 
the  monarchy  of  man.  Hate  reigns.  Yon  are  in  hell,  and  cry 
for  justice  with  the  tongue  of  hate.  Know,  then!  that  hate  never 
yet  found  justice,  that  justice  consorts  only  with  love;  that  love 
can  only  lead  you  unto  justice,  since  justice  is  of  wisdom  love's 
eternal  other  self.  Transform  your  civilization  from  this 
monarchy  of  man  into  a  cooperation  of  man  and  woman.  For 
these  two  principles  throughout  the  universe,  everywhere  and  in 
evreything,  knowing  no  exception,  when  united  in  equality,  give 
light,  heat  and  life,  health  and  power;  and  when  disunited  in  in- 
equality, bring  darkness,  death,  and  dissolution."  Woman's  gift 
is  love;  man's  gift  is  wisdom.  These  two  are  needed  equally 
alike  in  every  department  of  private  and  public  structure.  Ig- 
norance and  hate  can  only  be  overcome  by  the  equal  recogni- 
tion of  both  nature's  sexual  principles  in  all  things,  by  and 
through  which  the  existance  of  all  things  alone  can  exist. 

And  a  voice  said:  "Behold  them  apart!"  and  I  beheld  the 
forms  of  Hate  and  Ignorance  in  the  air,  and  a  darkness  spread 
o'er  the  land,  and  tempest  arose  above,  below  and  around  me, 
and  fearful  lightnings  and  the  thunders,  and  demoniacle  faces 
flashed  before  me,  and  the  dark  earth  gaped  and  shook  with 
revolution!  And  as  I  cried,  "Enough!"  twin  voices  whispered, 
"Behold  us  one!" 

And  a  light  appeared  greater  than  my  limited  faculties  could 
embrace,  but  a  peace  rested  upon  me. 


If  you  are  sick,  love!  If  you  are  envied,  hated,  and  slandered, 
love!  If  you  are  surrounded  by  enemies,  love!  If  danger  and 
death  hiss,  dart,  and  stab  you,  love!  Love  will  redeem,  bless, 
save,  preserve,  shelter  and  crown  you  with  the  essential  powers 
of  the  universe. 

And  know  that  for  every  man  thou  hatest,  thou  shuttest  off 
from  thyself  just  so  muchoi  the  universe — thou  separatest  from 
thyself  just  so  i?mc/i  of  life  and  eternity;  for  remember,  each  is 
a  part  of  the  whole,  and  to  be  the  whole,  thou  must  include 
all  in  thy  love. 

CHAPTER  VI. 

HEAVEN  AND  HELL  ANALYZED. 

Let  US  take  the  little  we  know  to  comprehend  the  greater, 
which  we  know  not.  Is  there  a  heaven  and  a  hell?  Did  you 
ever  contemplate  the  law  of  reflex  action,  by  which  that  which  is 
given  is  again  returned?  Everywhere  in  and  around  you  you  may 
experiment  and  demonstrate  the  law.  Let  us  take  as  an  exam- 
ple— not  an  illustration,  but  the  thing  itself — this  thing  which  we 
call  "the  echo."  In  the  echo  you  may  dimly  perceive  that  in  all 
existence  there  pervades  a  law  which  returns  "an  eye  for  an  eye 
and  a  tooth  for  a  tooth," — a  law  of  strict,  positive,  and  inexorable 
retributive  justice.  To  grasp  this  truth,  we  will  turn  our  fac» 
towards  the  mountain  and  cry  out: — 

"I  am  your  friend!" 


HEAVEN  AND  HELL  ANALYZED.  21 

Back  from  existence  comes  the  return  to  ub: — 

"I   am  y-o-u-r  f-r-ie-n-d!" — 

Again  we  cry  out: — 

"I  am  your  enemy !" 

That  which  we  sent  forth  again  returns  to  us: — 

"I  a-m  y-o-u-r  e-n-e-m-yl" 

Thus  our  action,  be  its  tone  soft  or  high,  low  or  swift,  is  re- 
turned to  us;  and  even  were  the  mountain  not  there,  and  were 
we  to  raise  our  voice  towards  the  earth,  or  up  to  the  seemingly 
echoless  depths  of  space,  and  cry  out,  our  echo,  though  we  heard 
or  heard  it  not,  would  return  to  us  as  faithfully  as  though  we 
had  power  to  perceive  its  return;  and  moreover,  it  would  return 
to  us  just  as  we  gave  it;  nothing  added  thereto  or  detracted 
therefrom,  but  in  the  exact  measure  of  our  own  creation. 

Now  from  a  mountain  we  shall  turn  our  face  towards  a  child, 
and  see  if  the  echo  will  return  to  us  from  the  child,  even  as  from 
the  mountain.  A  beautiful  child  stands  before  us, — a  human 
bud.  Its  sunny  face  presents  a  vision  more  beautiful  to  look 
upon  than  the  mountain,  and  around  its  existence  is  draped  even 
a  deeper  mystery.  We  turn  upon  it  a  look  of  hate, — lolupon  its 
fair  vision  is  spread  a  look  of  terror,  and  away  deep  in  the  sub- 
tle mysteries  of  its  being  is  sinking  that  look  of  hate  soon  to 
complete  its  circuit,  and  return  back  to  us  who  gave  it,  through 
the  same  eternal  principle  which  in  the  echo  returned  us  back 
"friend"  for  "friend,"  "enemy"  for  "eiiemy." 

For  every  blow  given,  a  blow  shall  be  returned;  and  every  time 
the  child  is  whipped  and  turned  to  tears,  the  whipper  shall  be 
whipped  and  turned  to  tears,  for  as  the  mountain  returns  your 
echo,  so  shall  the  child's  nature  return  your  echo.  Society  has 
been  outraging  its  labor, — beating  its  mothers,  brothers,  and  sis- 
ters and  lashing  its  brutes  for  centuries;  and  society  itself  has 
been  lashed  and  beaten  in  return  for]centuries.  For  your  brother 
will  return  your  echo  even  as  the  mountain,  and  by  the  same  law. 
If  you  smile  upon  him,  he  smiles;  if  you  reach  your  hand,  his 
hand  is  reached;  if  you  raise  it  to  strike,  so  even  is  his  raised  to 
strike;  if  you  are  cross,  he  is  cross;  if  pleased,  he  is  pleased;  in 
fact,  to  strike  another  is  to  strike  yourself;  to  be  kind  to  another 
is  to  be  kind  to  yourself;  and  even  as  in  the  echo,  although  you 
may  not  perceive  the  return  of  that  which  you  gave,  you  receive  it 
just  as  you  gave  it,  nevertheless;  and  the  hate  wliich  you  sent 
forth  will  return  to  you,  and  the  love  which  you  gave  will  come 
back  to  you;  for  it  is  an  immortal  part  of  you,  and  cannot  of 
itself  remain  away  from  itself. 

Let  our  future  civilization  be  based  upon  this  truth,  and  all 
will  go  well. 

CHAPTER  VII. 

THE  LITTLE  "Me"  OR  A  CLOSER  VIEW  OF  THE  DEMON. 

If  every  artificial  and  natural  necessity  of  the  people  was  run 
and  controlled  by  the  people  collectively  instead  of  individually, 
then  every  situation  in  society  would  be  a  government  position, 
and  every  man  and  every  woman  would   be  in  office,  working  for 


22-  THE    LITTLE     "ME." 

tne  government,  working  for  the  people,  and  therefore  in  reality 
working  for  their  true  self — their  self — through  the  whole.  The 
greater  and  broader  the  employer,  the  greater  and  broader  the 
conditions  of  the  employee,  and  this  vast  republic  of  ours  is  the 
broadest  and  is  the  greatest  employer  that  ever  employee  worked 
for.  It  gives  to  its  employees  better  hours  and  better  pay  than 
ever  other  employer  gave  before  or  gives  at  present,  because  of  the 
fact  that  it  is  the  greatest  and  it  is  the  broadest  source  of  em- 
ployment in  and  of  itself  in  all  the  world. 

Who  is  it  that  would  not  prefer  to  be  employed  by  his  country 
than  by  a  petty  personal  interest?  Who  is  it  that  would  rather 
work  for  one  than  work  for  all? 

The  closer  your  work  is  confined  to  personal  or  individual 
interest,  the  meaner  the  job  and  the  harder  your  task-master. 
The  closer  your  work  is  identified  with  the  interest  of  the  peo- 
ple, and  the  more  directly  the  entire  mass  is  concerned  in  your 
labors  and  is  your  direct  employer,  the  better  the  relations 
around  you  and  the  more  magnanimous  your  compensation. 
While,  upon  the  other  hand,  the  closer  and  closer  the  employer 
becomes  your  own  little  "me,"  the  harder  and  harder  becomes 
the  overseer,  and  you  will  find  that  no  employer  in  all  your  ex- 
perience ever  worked  you  so  long,  so  hard,  and  so  constant  as 
this  "/i," — your  own  little  "7?ie!" 

Under  the  present  condition  of  this  "it"  and  the  "me"  running 
and  controlling  industry  and  science,  and  the  "us"  and  the  "we" 
sitting  upon  the  back  seats  generally,  there  are  very  few  govern- 
ment positions,  comparatively  speaking.  The  infinite  "us"  and 
the  "we"  therefore  have  to  toil  mostly  for  this  finite  "it"  and 
"me"  and  our  conditions  and  our  compensations  therefore  are 
finite,  little,  contracted,  and  narrow  as  our  finite  employers  are 
little,  contracted,  and  narrow. 

If  we  would  therefore,  have  our  compensation  and  conditions 
broadened  and  enlarged,  we  must  broaden  and  enlarge  the  em- 
ployer. We  must  raise  that  employer  from  this  "it"  and  the 
"me,"up  to  greater  proportions  of  the  republic. 

As  we  have  said,  there  are  very  few  government  or  collect- 
ivity jobs  at  present,  comparatively  speaking,  because  the  col- 
lectivity runs  so  small  a  percentage  of  its  own  affairs,  and  there- 
fore has  not  jobs  enough  to  go  all  around;  but  when  the  collect- 
ivity does  take  hold  of  its  own  affairs,  then  there  will  be  enough 
government  jobs  to  go  all  around,  and  the  idle  millions  will  all 
find  work  enough  for  all,  and  not  find  ten  men's  labor  crowded 
upon  one,  and  the  other  nine  forced  into  v/ant  and  idleness. 
Nor  will  it  find  marvelous  developments  standing  in  abeyance 
and  paralyzed,  while  willing  labor  and  ready  science  stand  will- 
ing and  ready  to  bring  them  forth,  but  cannot,  because,  forsooth! 
of  that  Machiavelian  lie,  that  stolen  purse  called  "capital"  which 
cries: 

"Wait  till  '■me'  allows  you  — ';?ie'  money  bags!" 

This"  'rue'  and  mc  money  bags"  that  comes  along,  skims  the 
cream  off  our  milk,  kindly  presents  us  with  the  thin  remain- 
der, and  unblushingly  informs  us  that  if  it  was  not  for  "it"  we 
could  have  no  milk,  have  no  cow,  have  no  meadow,  have  no  moon, 


THE    LITTLE     "ME."  23 

Bun,  nor  stars!  That  "if  is  the  creator! — the  God! — the  Capi- 
tal!" And  verily  it  is  "the  Capital,"  the  capital  falsehood- 
Man  is  the  capital,  not  money.  Man  is  the  creator  of  capital, 
and  this  thing  which  he  hath  created  creeps  up,  and  like  a  bug 
upon  a  throne,  squeaks  out  "Behold  Jehovah. — 'me'.'" 

Poor  little  egotistical  bug!  Thy  name  is  "Individualism." 
We  know  thee  by  thy  microscopicness;  for  what  is  so  vain,  so 
little,  so  conceited,  so  obtuse  to  the  bigness  of  the  universe,  as 
this  little  self-bloviated  bubble,  this  little,  little,  tiny  "we"? 

Compare  the  treatment  of  the  employees  of  individualism  and 
the  treatment  of  the  employees  of  collectivism.  Who  is  it  works 
its  employees  fourteen  hours  per  day  at  fourteen  dollars  per  year? 
Indivdualisra.  Who  is  it  that  waves  its  lash  of  "discharge"  above 
the  trembling  head  of  its  living  machine,  and  jealous  of  its 
slave's  momentary  rest  or  ease,  cries:  "Work  harder,  work 
longer,  work  stronger,  or  starve!"  Gentle  individualism.  Who  is 
it  that  drives  the  builders  of  its  palaces  into  huts,  dresses  the 
weavers  of  its  robes  in  rags,  feeds  the  perveyers  of  its  tables  upon 
husks?  Kind  individualism.  Who  is  it  that  sets  its  brother  in 
the  hot,  hot, scorching  harvest-field  through  the  long,  long,  weary 
day,  and  who,  when,  that  brother's  sweat  has  translated  its  stand- 
ing sheaves  into  sacks  of  precious  grain,  gives  him  in  pay  the  value 
of  the  straws,  and  reaching  for  its  gun,  calls  upon  its  goodly  dog 
and  loudly  bellows,  "Tramp!"  Magnayiimous  individualism. 
Who  is  it  that  says  "Little  children  come  unto '??ie,' and  I  will 
set  you  in  '■me'  factory,  where  I  have  kindly  broke  down  your 
parents,  and  I'D  manufacture  you,  like  them  into  '??ie'  bank  ac- 
count?" Christian  individualism.  Who  is  it  that  catching  its 
brother  hungry,  charges  him  his  birthright  for  a  crust,  and  calls 
it  "business?"    Commercial  individualism. 

Who  is  it  that,  setting  itself  upon  a  throne,  sets  its  brother 
down  in  the  mud,  and  cries  out  to  him:  "Behold  me\  Me,  the 
very  illustrious  person  who  owns  you!  Gaze  upon  me  and  die  in 
ecstacy;  for  the  Lord  has  anointed  meV    Royal  individualism. 

And  this  poor,  little,  conceited,  vain,  dwarfed,  egotistical  ego, 
"me"  demands  to  hold  the  reins  of  the  universe.  Our  countless 
concretion  of  "me's"  would  settle  itself  like  a  fly-speck  upon  the 
spectrum  of  the  telescope  and  shut  out  our  vision  of  the  stars! 

"Individualism!"  What  a  long,  long  word  for  such  a  short, 
short  thing!  "Individualism,"  that  claims  that  itself — the  part 
— is  greater  than  the  whole;  that  the  "us"  has  no  right  to  oivn 
the  land,  but  that  the  "?«e"  the  little  floating  speck  in  the  sun- 
beam, has  the  right,  and  the  sunbeam  has  no  right  at  all!  Claims 
that  the  dot  is  larger  than  the  sun,  and  a  more  important  factor 
than  the  universe!  "Individualism,"  this  small  thing  with  the 
big,  big  name,  that  says  "ilfe"  shall  own  the  land,  water,  light, 
and  air,  the  railroads  and  the  telegraphs,  the  industries  and  the 
money;  but  it  would  be  wrong  for  the  whole  to  own  the  land, 
water,  light,  and  air,  the  railroads  and  the  telegraphs,  the  indus- 
tries and  the  money.  It  would  be  outrageous  for  the  whole  to 
own  itself,  but  right  for  the  "??ie"  to  own  the  whole,  hy  owning 
its  necessities  of  life. 

Poor  little  "me!"  poor  little    mote  with  the  big,  big  greed,  we 


24  THE    LITTLE    "ME." 

would  not  harm  thee!  No!  thou  wouldst  harm  thyself!  Thou 
clutchest  too  much  for  thy  poor  little  clutch  to  get  around.  The 
earth  is  twenty-four  thousand  miles  around,  they  say,  and  thou 
would  clutch  it  all,  and  clutch  us  all  along  with  it.  But  thou 
must  be  restrained  for  thine  own  good,  for  thine  own  elevation, 
fot  thine  own  evolution  into  greatness,  from  thy  present  mote- 
ness. 

We,  the  whole,  love  thee;  for  are  we  not  composed  of  all  the 
'"thees"  composed  of  all  the  specks,  of  all  the  motes,  of  all  the 
dots?  and  is  not  our  love  greater  than  the  love  of  thy  infinitesi- 
mal dot?  Look  out  and  up  from  thy  little  self  and  behold  us  all! 
Is  not  the  earth  ours,  not  thine?  And  being  ours,  hast  thou  not 
also  a  rightful  share?  Wouldst  thou  have  a  wrongful  share?  Re- 
member, thou  art  a  share  of  us.  And  being  a  share  of  us,  dost 
thou  not  perceive  that  our  greatness  is  thy  greatness,  our  un- 
foldment  thy  unfoldment,  our  happiness  thy  happiness?  And 
upon  the  other  hand,  that  our  injury  is  thy  injury,  that  our  fate 
and  our  cause  is  thine? 

CHAPTER   VIII. 

THE   DEMON   AND   INDUSTRY. 

The  world's  ingratitude  to  labor  is  the  most  terrible  of  its 
wrongs.  Its  toilers  are  ever  upon  the  rack  of  outrage.  The  com- 
pensation it  pays  industry  is  misery,  low  wage,  coarse  raiment, 
squalid  habitation,  and  mean  sustenance, — a  condition  the  nursery 
for  crime.  The  burdens  of  society  rest  heaviest  upon  labor,  its 
greatest  of  benefactors,  and  curses  and  lashes  are  the  reward  of 
its  goodness.  Why  should  this  be?  The  compensation  of  that 
which  places  a  palace  above  your  head,  a  feast  upon  your  table, 
a  robe  upon  your  back,  and  furnishes  you  with  every  necessity  of 
human  effort,  is  treated  with  contempt  and  contumely.  It  is 
nothing  for  the  lawyer,  politician,  general,  doctor,  landlord,  mer- 
chant, or  banker  to  receive  thousands,  ay,  millions  of  dollars  for 
their  efforts,  while  but  few  and  far  between  are  the  pennies 
yielded  to  the  toiler. 

I  am  not  for  pulling  down  the  high  salaries  of  some  becaupe 
others  get  low,  but  my  humanity  cries  aloud  for  justice!  To  be 
president  of  a  nation  may  be  considered  great,  but  mere  posi- 
tion does  not  make  man  greater  than  mankind,  ro  more  than  to 
be  upon  a  mountain-top  makes  men  greater  than  those  in  the 
valley  below,  truly  the  position  may  be  greater,  but  the  position 
is  not  the  man.  Fifty  thousand  dollars  a  year  to  a  president;  a 
dollar  a  day  to  a  toiler!  The  toiler  gives  his  time,  attention, 
mind,  body,  and  effort  to  his  duty;  the  president  gives,  can 
give,  no  more.  The  president  has  been  trained,  mind  and  body 
for  his  duty;  the  toiler  for  his.  The  president  puts  forth  the 
peculiar  mental  and  physical  action  necessary  to  his  task;  the 
toiler,  equally  so  to  his;  and  where  is  the  superiority?  The 
toiler  might  be  removed  and  the  loss  unrecognizable;  thousands 
stand  ready  to  take  his  place.  None  might  fill  the  measure  of 
his  skill;  but  what  of  that?  The  tide  rolls  on.  The  president 
might  be  removed;  millions  stand  ready  to  take  his  place.    None 


THE    DEMON    AND    INDUSTRY.  25 

might  fill  the  measure  of  his  skill;  but  what  of  that?  The  tide 
rolls  on  also.  There  is  no  real  deserving  superiority  between  the 
two,  yet  one  receives  fifty  thousand  a  year,  the  other  a  dollar  a 
day  I  One  studies  a  while  and  applies  his  signature  to  a  few 
papers,  and  the  imagination  of  the  momentousness  of  his  task 
overcomes  him.  The  other  studies,  and  studies,  and  studies,  and 
toils,  and  toils,  and  toils;  there  is  little  imagination  about  his 
task;  it  is  real,  real,  real!  And  the  reality  wears,  and  deeply 
wears,  and  overcomes  him, — wears  and  overcomes  him,  indeed! 
Yet  one  receives  fifty  thousand  dollars  a  year,  and  the  other  a 
dollar  a  day!  Shame,  shame!  Yet  this  is  civilization!  The  human 
heart,  the  human  mind,  should  not  rest  until  this  wrong  be 
righted.  No  man  should  receive  fifty  thousand  dollars  a  year 
while  one  man  among  sixty  millions  receives  but  a  dollar  a  day. 
It  is  deemed  an  unnoticeable  affair,  common,  and  in  nothing  ex- 
traordinary, for  a  lawyer  to  charge  one  thousand  dollars  for  the 
effort  of  a  day.  If  a  laborer  were  to  ask  twenty,  the  demand 
would  be  considered  outrageous,  and  the  demander  beyond  the 
pale  of  consideration.  Yet  a  lawyer  acting  as  a  judge  will  decree 
and  fix  the  compensation  of  a  lawyer  in  a  case  before  him,  and 
fix  it  at  hundreds  an  hour,  and  declare  it  the  justice  he  himself 
would  demand.  Where  is  the  lawyer's  effort  more  valuable  to 
society  than  the  toiler's?  Yet  all  this  is  so,  and  the  dance  goes 
on.  The  lawyer  puts  you  in  prison,  the  general  shoots  you,  the 
doctor  poisons  you,  the  landlord  turns  you  out  upon  the  highway, 
the  banker  skins  you,  and  the  preacher  sends  you  to  hell.  For 
this  you  give  hundreds  of  thousands  a  year, — millions!  billions! 
To  the  toiler— a  dollar  a  day\ 

The  toller  clothes  you  from  your  cradle  to  your  grave;  from  the 
storm  and  the  sun  he  shelters  you;  soft  is  the  couch  he  prepares 
for  your  dreams;  humbly,  meekly,  patiently,  kindly,  he  wrings 
from  the  earth  its  richness,  and  places  it  upon  your  table;  the 
results  of  his  toil  stand  between  you  and  the  elements;  at  his 
touch,  your  deserts  blossom,  the  hills  in  your  path  level,  and 
you  journey  swift  as  the  lightnings.  True  science  has  done  its 
share;  but  where  would  science  be  without  hivi.  And  for  this, 
and  more,  he  receives  a  dollar  a  day. 

Ah!  but  you  say  he  sometimes  receives  more.  Does  he?  Well, 
even  so,  he  receives  not  justice  until  he  receives  equal  with  you 
all.  Ay!  equal  to  your  president;  for  your  president  is  no  more 
than  his  peer, — his  equal, — and  he  no  more  than  your  presi- 
dent. You  may  deny  this,  and  point  to  his  defects;  but  remem- 
ber, whatever  labor  is,  your  society  has  made  it  so.  Oppression 
brutalizes.  Take  the  dog,  chain  it  to  a  stake,  it  will  become  fero- 
cious; let  it  loose,  and  it  will  become  gentle,  through  associa- 
tion. Throughout  civilization  you  have  chained  labor.  Can  you 
expect  gentlemen? 

Civilization?  Individualistic  civilization?  Society  suffers  for 
this.  Every  criminal  emotion  of  the  mind,  hate,  jealousy,  envy, 
avarice,  and  cruelty,  fastens  itself  upon  a  special  organ  of  the 
body,  and  is  the  seed  of  a  special  disease.  At  the  door  of 
injustice  lie  the  sorrows  of  us  all. 


26  THE    CHATTEL    AND    COMPETITIVE     SLAVES. 

CHAPTER  IX. 

THE  CHATTEL  AND  COMPETITIVE  SLAVES. 

There  are  two  forms  of  unpaid  or  spoliated  labor.  One  is 
known  as  chattel  slavery,  the  other  as  competitive  employment. 
The  chattel  slave  receives  its  food,  covering  and  shelter  directly 
from  and  is  directly  under  the  physical  control  or  body-proprie- 
torship of  its  owner.  The  results  of  these  two  species  of  slavery 
are  the  same,  except  the  body-proprietorshiped  or  competitive 
slave,  although  proprietor  directly  over  its  own  body,  is  never- 
theless indirectly  the  same  bounden  tool,  the  same  spoliated  serP, 
as  the  chattel  slave.  The  competitive  employe,  instead  of  being 
furnished  food,  covering  and  shelter  directly  by  the  master, 
receives  in  lieu  thereof  a  certain  amount  of  money  wherewith  to 
purchase  the  same;  and  this  purchasing  of  its  food,  covering  and 
shelter  by  the  competitive  slave  furnishes  it  with  an  illusion  that 
it  is  paid  and  that  it  is  free.  In  supposition  and  in  imaginiitiou 
this  is  undoubtedly  bo;  but  in  reality,  when  the  two  conditions 
are  fairly  compared,  we  find  the  results  of  the  two  systems 
exactly  the  same  in  every  particular;  and  that  both  systems  of 
slavery  return  its  slaves  the  same  proportional  compensation,  i.  e., 
food,  covering  and  shelter  of  the  rudest  kind,  and  nothing  more, 
at  the  end  of  the  task,  for  the  wealth  the  slave  has  created. 

Slavery  of  any  species  never  was,  never  will  be,  a  respecter  of 
race,  color  or  previous  condition,  though  our  Southern  chattel 
slavery  hypocritically  pretended  to  confine  itself  to  the  color  line, 
and  thus  brought  race  prejudice  to  its  aid.  Nevertheless,  had  it 
not  met  its  fate,  and  had  it  arisen  to  its  full  ancient  proportions, 
we  would  in  time  have  witnessed  men  and  women,  irrespective  of 
blood  auctioned  off  upon  its  block.  Chattel  slavery,  throughout 
time,  never  respected  condition  or  blood;  and  men  of  the  highest 
attainments,  men  who  have  rendered  themselves  famous  in 
history,  poetry,  science  and  painting,  have  been  sold  like  dumb 
brutes  within  the  market  of  chattel  slavery. 

Competitive  employment,  like  its  predecessor,  is  also  no  respec- 
ter of  persons;  and  rent,  interest  and  profit  to-day  number  under 
its  triune  ownership  the  genius,  talent,  and  accomplishment  of 
the  country.  The  competitive  slave  is  not  confined  to  class. 
Thousands  of  industrious  and  assiduous  merchants  belong  to  the 
ranks  of  competitive  slavery.  Persons  who  tax  their  strength  to 
the  utmost  and  present  most  praiseworthy  displays  of  humanity's 
necessities,  and  who  toil  and  tax  their  energy  daily  and  yearly, 
find  themselves  at  the  end  bankrupt  and  broken  in  pocket,  mind 
and  body.  Often  men  of  vast  enterprise  equally  belong  to  the 
innumerable  army  of  competition.  Men  whose  force  and  creative 
character  construct  and  build  every  species  of  wealth.  Napoleons 
of  industry,  architects  and  sculptors  of  the  grandeurs  of  civiliza- 
tion, often  alike  find  themselves,  as  the  great  majority,  gray- 
bearded,  bent  and  enfeebled,  shorn  of  all  natural  and  artificial 
necessities.  Competitive  slavery,  we  thus  readily  perceive,  is  no 
respecter  of  persons;  and  its  slaves  are  not  distinguishable 
through  species  of  occupation,  dress,  rank  or  appearance.  And 
resent  society,  through  all  its  degrees,  but  presents  an  unbroken 


THE     CHATTEL,    AND     COMPETITIVE    SLAVES.  27 

kaleidoscopic  view  of  financial  or  money  slaves,  chained  to  this 
competitive  monster's  charriot  by  the  chains  of  either  rent, 
interest  or  profit. 

In  chattel  slavery  at  the  South,  there  were  slaves  who  dressed 
well,  lived  well,  and  who  were  engaged  at  occupations  of  mental 
degree,  but  they  were  slaves,  nevertheless,  for  all  their  cage 
being  gilded;  and  in  competitive  slavery  there  are  men  to-day 
who  live  and  move  in  circles  called  fashionable,  who  dress  in  fine 
linen  and  siuflfs,  live  in  tine  mansions,  and  dine  sumptuosly,  and  yet 
who,  for  all  this,  are  hollow  when  it  comes  to  freedom — who,  for 
all  this,  are  as  peinniless,  although  assessed  as  wealthy,  as  their 
spoliated  brother  slave  of  competition  who  removes  the  ashes 
from  their  doors.  Once  in  a  great  while  a  suicide  reveals  this 
fact,  but  the  competitive  slaves,  from  the  foundation-toiler  to  the 
one  who  gives  orders  from  the  dome,  are  patient,  and  toil  on  like 
dumb,  driven  brutes,  until  they  drop  in  their  tracks. 

The  cause,  therefore,  of  nationalism — the  cause  which  proposes 
that  the  wealth  earned  by  the  people  in  transportation,  manu- 
facture, telegraphy,  agriculture,  electricity,  chemistry,  science, 
art,  and  the  product  of  every  species  of  human  creation  shall 
belong  to  humanily,  to  the  nation;  that  competition  shall  be 
replaced  by  co-operation;  that  competitive  slavery  must  go  like 
its  predecessor,  chattel  slavery;  that  the  people  shnll  own  them- 
selves— this  cause,  we  assert,  is  not  alone  the  cause  of  any  one 
department  or  class  of  competitive  serfdom,  whether  it  be  clad  in 
overalls  or  broadcloth,  but  is  the  cause  of  each  and  every  Ameri- 
can citizen  alike  who  knows  or  who  should  know,  that  the  great- 
est good  to  each  is  the  greatest  good  to  all. 

Nay,  there  is  not  one  in  all  the  millions  but  would  be  directly 
and  immeasurably  benefited  through  the  elevation  of  the  whole 
people.  Be  it  a  millionaire  a  thousand-fold,  there  can  be  no 
good  come  to  either  him  or  her,  unless  it  comes  from  the  good  of 
the  race.  Anything  derived  from  the  people's  degradation  must 
eventually  prove  a  curse  to  its  possessor. 

For  the  millionaires  or  thousandaires  of  our  country  I  have  no 
harsh  word,  no  hateful  thought.  I  include  every  one  in  my 
humanity.  Every  wrong  is  the  result  of  society,  and  they  who 
do  WTong  must  suffer;  for  who  can  escape  himself?  The  heads 
of  our  erroneous  system  are  as  much  to  be  pitied  as  the  last  in 
the  line.  The  capitalist's  determinate  will,  tireless  energy,  large 
ideas,  and  superlative  force  of  character  would  arise  to  grander 
tasks- if  a  higher  standard  of  society  prevailed,  and  would  be  run 
in  grooves  beneficial  and  not  destructive;  their  talents  and  their 
genius  would  go  to  their  graves  amid  the  tears  and  lamentations 
of  their  country,  and  their  memories  be  lifted  up  and  ascend 
upon  the  incense  of  the  prayers  of  a  race;  whereas  now  they 
descend,  weighted  down  with  the  curses  and  anathemas  of 
miserable  milions,  which  not  all  the  peons  of  purchasable  altars 
can  remove.  And  certainly  there  is  something  in  this  terrible 
departure  which  neither  gilt,  glitter,  nor  grandeur  can  efface; 
and  I  would  not  enter  the  shadows  of  eternity  with  the  curses 
of  a  people  upon  viy  past  for  all  the  wealth  of  this  and  all  the 
wealth  of  all  other  worlds  besides. 


28  THE    CHATTEL    AND     COMPETITIVE     SLAVE. 

Yes,  the  nationalization  of  all  natural  and  artificial  wealth  is 
the  highest  truth  for  millionaire,  as  well  as  pauper,  and  both 
alike  shall  yet  perceive  and  favor  the  establishment  of  its  truths. 

Individualism  or  personal  proprietorship  is  the  mother  and 
cause  of  the  competitive  system.  The  merchant  is  pitted  against 
his  fellow- merchant,  and  cut  follows  cut,  until  bankruptcy  cuts 
the  cutter.  The  employer  is  pitted  against  his  fehow  employer 
until  he  casts  his  losses  upon  the  toilers  under  him  and  lowers 
their  wage.  The  toiler  is  pitted  against  his  fellow-toiler  until 
Btarvation^until  society  is  turned  into  a  theater  of  individual 
conflict,  wherein  hate  and  cunning  rule  and  ruin,  until  labor, 
unpaid,  unhonored  and  dispised,  is  looked  upon  with  aversion 
instead  of  pleasure;  until  a  premium  is  set  upon  idleness  and  the 
millions  turn  to  vice  and  look  upon  virtue  as  a  producer  of 
misery.  Truth  becomes  inverted,  property  worshiped,  and  its 
creator,  man,  discarded,  denied,  disowned  and  left  to  die!  And 
this  is  the  product  of  your  individual  competitive  civilization! 
Each  for  itself  and  the  devil  for  all. 

The  peculiar  difference  between  the  chattel  and  the  competi- 
tive slaves'  relationship  to  their  owners  is  marked  in  their  dif- 
ferent processes  of  purchase  and  sale;  the  chattel  slave  of  old 
was  put  upon  the  block  and  bid  up,  while  the  competitive  slave 
puts  himself  upon  the  block  and  bids  himself  down. 

CHAPTER  X. 

THE  COMPETITIVE  SLAVE  MARKET. 

We  are  all  familiar  with  the  process  whereby  the  negro  was 
put  upon  the  auction-block  and  knocked  down  to  the  highest 
bidder;  but  not  quite  so  familiar,  some  of  us,  as  to  how  the  com- 
petitive slave  is  compelled  to  bid  himself  down  to  be  purchased 
at  the  lowest  bid. 

But  here  is  the  picture:  Behold  a  slave  market  of  the  com- 
petitive system.  A  throng  of  idle,  anxious-looking  toilers.  In 
the  center  a  well-dressed  citizen,  a  man-dealer  upon  the  competi- 
tive plane  of  man-dealing — a  man-purchaser. 

Listen!  He  says:  "Come,  I  want  an  employe — me!  How 
low  do  I  hear  you  offer  yourselves?  Put  yourselves  down! 
There  are  one  hundred  of  you;  I  only  want  one!  What  do  I 
hear  you  bid?" 

A  slave  comes  foward,  a  man  of  middle  age,  yet  sound  in  life 
and  limb,  and  well  skilled  for  the  task.  He  has  a  wife  and 
little  ones  to  support,  he  must  therefore  consider  them  in  his  bid 
— his  bid  must  be  high  enough  to  take  in  their  support.  He 
offers  himself  for  the  price  of  "fwo  dollars  per  day." 

"Two  dollars  a  day  is  bid,"  says  the  man-dealer.  "Why,  this  is 
preposterous!  Two  dollars  per  day  is  outrageous!  You  must 
come  down  lower  than  that;  this  is  a  good  job.  You 
can  get  something  to  eat  and  wear  out  of  this  job.  Thousands 
would  jump  at  this  job.  It  is  a  grand  opening  for  a  young  man. 
Going  at  two  dollars!     Do  I  hear  a  dollar  and  a  half?" 

"A  dollar  and  a  half,"  bids  a  slave,  a  young  man  who  has  but 
lately  married,  and  who  has  but  himself  and  wife  to  support. 


THE    COMPETITIVE    SLAVE     MARKET.  29 

"A  dollar  and  a  half,"  cries  the  man-dealer.  "Remember  it  is 
your  last  chance!  The  rolling  mill  shut  down  last  week,  harvest 
is  over,  building  is  dull,  manufacture  complains  that  sales  are 
light,  and  that  the  people  are  not  buying  their  goods.  This  is 
your  last  chance,  your  last  gasp!  Get  down  lower  than  a  dollar 
and  a  half!" 

Then  a  young  man,  unmarried,  and  devoid  of  encumbrances — 
"encumbrances"  is  the  term  wherewith  rent,  interest  and  profit 
designates  the  family  of  a  poor  man;  for  individualistic  selKsh- 
ness  opposed  to  life,  is  opposed  to  families;  then  this  young  man, 
devoid  of  "encumbrances" — having  no  wife,  no  children  to  sup- 
port— bids,  "owe  dollar  a  day." 

"Ha,  ha!  now  you  are  coming  down  to  business!  One  dollar  a 
day!"  cries  the  man-dealer.  "But  you  can  get  down  lower  than 
this.  There  will  be  a  few  more  lock-outs  next  week;  a  general 
strike  may  be  ordered  along  the  line;  get  down  if  you  want  to 
get  through  the  winter.  A  dollar  a  dav  I  am  bid;  do  I  hear 
a  half?" 

Then  a  swarthy-looking  man  from  a  far-away  land,  friendless 
and  alone  in  a  strange  country,  whose  needs  are  extremely 
pressing,  whom  oppression  has  accustomed  to  the  extremest 
economy,  bids  ^^seventy-five  cents  per  day." 

"Seventy -five  cents  per  day !  Now  I  hear  you  talk;  you  are 
coming  down  to  cents.  But  you  can  get  down  lower  than  that! 
You  would  not  get  a  tenth  of  that  in  some  countries.  Going  at 
seventy-five  cents!" 

Then  a  little  yellow  man,  with  receeding  forhead  and  protrud- 
ing jaw,  with  his  hair  plaited  down  his  back  into  a  long,  rattish- 
looking  tail,  and  the  corner  of  whose  eyes  are  relationally  perpen- 
dicular, speaks  in  foreign  accent,  saying: — 

"Me  catchum  job  at  fifty  cents  per  day :  me  no  wifey,  no  chillem, 
no  Sunday, — no  nothing!  Me  sleepum  floor,  eatum  rice. — live  all 
same  rat!  Megot  down  to  Ji/i?/ cent  business  long  ago!  Me  just  the 
kind  slave  rent,  interest,  and  profit  likee!  Me  get  right  down  and 
individual  make  much  money  on  me.  You  takum  me  fiftey  cents 
a  day." 

"Gone!!!"  cries  the   man-dealer;  "gone   at  fifty  cents  a  day!" 

Then  the  wretch  with  the  wife  and  family,  the  young  man  with 
the  young  wife,  and  the  unencumbered  man  walked  away  out 
into  the  streets,  past  the  stores,  with  their  windows  temptingly 
decked  and  arrayed  with  the  comforts  and  necessities  of  life, — 
comforts  and  necessities  which  they  and  theirs  want  and  need  so 
very,  very  much.  And  the  competitive  shopkeepers  watch  them 
going  by,  and  wonder  why  they  do  not  come  in  and  purchase! 
Ah!  competitive  slave  and  competitive  shopkeeper!  If  ye  would 
only  learn,  and  undo  that  which  divides  and  puts  up  its  wall 
between  you. 

When  the  morale  of  all  this  is  examined  into,  it  will  be  readily 
perceived  that  each  slave  is  put  into  antagonism  with  his  fellow- 
slave,  that  the  slaves  of  each  country  are  not  only  thus  arrayed 
against  the  slaves  of  their  respective  countries,  but  that  the 
slaves  of  one  country  are  thus  arrayed  in  hostile  conflict  against 
the  slaves  of  another  country,  until   the  barriers  of  hate  are 


30  THE     COMPETITIVE     SLAVE     MARKET. 

raised  up  between  man  and  man,  country  and  pountry,  race  and 
race,  until  the  human  family  view  each  other  as  the  cause  of 
misery,  and  denounce  each  other  as  objects  to  be  looked  upon 
with  jealousy,  doubt,  distrust,  suspicion,  and  dread. 

Thus  when  individualistic  selfishness,  or  rent,  interest,  and 
profit,  and  personal  proprietorship  of  collective  rights  have 
brought  about  starvation  and  suffering,  the  slaves,  not  looking 
into  the  real  and  general  cause  of  the  condition,  fall  upon  each 
other  like  two  dogs  over  one  bone,  not  understanding  that 
which  leaves  them  but  one  meatless  bone  to  subsist  upon. 

Just  as  long  as  slave  fights  slave,  race  fights  race,  just  so  long 
must  they  fight  hungry,  unclad  and  homeless.  And  just  as  soon 
as  they  arise  to  the  idea  of  brotherhood,  arise  to  the  idea  of 
collective  proprietorship  of  human  necessities  and  the  collective 
proprietorship  of  themselves,  just  so  soon  will  ttiey  embrace  the 
fullness  and  richness  of  man's  own  world. 

CHAPTER  XI. 

SUPPRESSED   WEALTH. 

Show  me  a  man  looking  for  work,  and  I  will  show  you  a  man 
looking  to  create  something  beneficial  to  society.  Show  me  a 
society  so  constituted  in  its  relations  that  it  does  not  and  can- 
not put  this  man  to  work  creating  this  "something"  tor  its  bene- 
fit, and  I  will  show  you  a  society  which  ignorantly  retards  its 
accumulation  of  wealth. 

The  preposterousness  of  a  man  having  to  seek  for  work!  The 
preporterousness  of  a  society  not  being  arranged  so  as  to  afford 
every  person  an  opportunity  to  enrich  it!  O,  Individualism!  are 
you  not  mad, — are  you  not  insane? 

Every  man  seeking  for  work  is  an  angel  seeking  to  add  unto 
society's  wealth.  And  to  think  of  the  millions  thus  seeking,  and 
seeking  unallowed,  to  enrich  us.  Verily,  we  say  unto  you,  if  col- 
lectivism would  reverse  this  state  of  affairs,  which  like  a  fence 
stands  between  the  people  and  their  creative  powers;  would  open 
up  every  road  and  avenue  to  science  and  labor;  would  ar- 
range it  to  receive  these  ministers  of  production  with  open  arms 
instead  of  closed  gates,— would  not  society's  wealth  increase  so 
fast  that  the  total  aggregation  woi^ld  soon  amount  to  millions  of 
millions,  until  every  man,  woman,  and  child  would  each  be  more 
than  a  millionaire?  And  where  millionaires  are  now  but  like  few 
and  far  between  tufts  of  green  along  the  sands  of  a  moistless 
desert,  each  and  everyone  thus  with  millions  endowed  would 
change  the  scene  of  the  few  and  far  between  tufts  into  that  of  a 
vernal  meadow  full  unto  its  very  fullness.  Dream  of  it!  Think 
of  it!     If  man's  full  fecundity  and  goodness  could  only  prevail! 

Civilization  has  yet  to  bloom. 

The  universal  republic  has  yet  to  come, — as  come  it  will,— 
though  you  preceive  neither  its  coming  nor  the  plant's  growing. 

Away  in  the  heart  of  the  primative  wilderness  of  the  north  we 
see  a  race  of  bronzed  savages. 

They  bind  a  broad,  flat  stone  across  the  foreheads  of  their 
young. 


SUPPRESSED     WEALTH.  31 

They  have  a  superstiton  that  a  low,  receding  forehead  gains 
admittance  to  the  happy  hunting  grounds  of  the  Father. 

Perhaps  it  may;  we  know  not. 

But  this  we  do  know;  the  custom  crushes  and  cripples  the  in- 
fant's   growing  brain,  and  makes  hideous  the  man. 

This  is  their  error,  cruel  and  blasphemous,  yet  still  their  error. 

What  the  broad  flat  stone  is  to  the  infant's  brow,  individual 
proprietorship  of  the  earth  is  unto  the  people, — crushing  their 
genius  pregnant  with  the  arts  and  sciences,  ever  ready  to  evolve 
forth  peace,  plenty,  and  happiness. 

Occassionally  a  genius  triumphs  over  rent,  interest,  and  profit; 
but  how  oft  does  rent,  interest,  and  profit  triumph  over  genius, 
thu3  crushing  the  flowers  that  should  have  decked  the  brow  of 
civilization! 

O  rise,  ye  slaves! 

Break  the  bonds  of  selfishness! 

Unharness  genius! 

UNBIND  NATURE! 

Free  the  infant's  brow,  cast  off  the  stones  of  savagery,  and  let 
the  children's  foreheads  grow! 

CHAPTER  XII. 

OUTLAWED     HUMANITY. 

We  can  only  change  laws  by  rising  to  higher  planes  of  thought. 
From  the  center  of  the  earth  upward  and  outward  and  still 
outward,  and  then  downward,  back  again  to  its  center,  all  is  law 
and  laws.  These  laws  create  the  physical  conditions  of  nature 
and  society.  A  law  is  immutable,  and  cannot  be  changed  by  that 
which  is  beneath  it.  While  you  remain  beneath  it,  the  more  you 
fight  and  struggle,  the  more  you  suffer.  While  you  are  beneath 
it,  you]  cannot  annul  it;  for  you  are  impotent  while  you  hold  this 
relative  position  to  it.  There  is  only  one  way  to  overcome  a  law, 
and  that  is  by  rising  above  its  conditions,  mentally  and  morally, 
and  thus  changing  the  relative  positions  of  vantage.  Thus  a  law- 
is  only  immutable,  changeless,  and  eternal  upon  the  plane  of 
its  thought.  Upon  that  plane  it  is  is  all-ruling  and  dominant; 
while  to  all  that  which  exists  upon  the  higher  plane,  this  law 
of  the  lower  is  powerless  to  control.  Just  now  we  are  governed 
so  by  the  laws  of  individualism  that  we  are  law  and  lawed,  and  so 
swathed  up  with  laws  that  we  have  become  veritable  law  mum- 
mies. Even  if  we  go  into  our  own  public  parks,  we  are  informed 
"to  keep  off  the  grass;"  if  we  go  along  the  road  until  we  get  out 
into  the  wilderness,  where  we  meet  Nature  in  her  unmolested 
moods,  and  mountains  tower  above  mountains,  and  men  are  so 
scarce  that  you  would  not  meet  one  in  a  day's  travel,  some  little 
"personality"  has  got  there  previously,  nevertheless,  and  fixed  up 
a  law  for  you;  and  there  you  read  it,  nailed  to  a  huge  tree:"  Tres- 
passers will  be  prosecuted  according  to  law."  Poor,  poor  lawed 
man!  Think  of  it!  You,  the  only  man  that  has  probably  been 
there  for  a  week,  and  you  are  going  to  be  prosecuted.  Then  you 
pass  onward,  and  come  to  a  beautiful  stretch  of  country;  for 
miles  and    miles  it  reaches  otit.     A    silver  vein  of  purity  glides 


32  OUTLAWED    HUMANITY. 

through  its  center.  Carpeted  with  emerald  grasses,  patterned 
with  wild-tlowers,  this  virgin  land  lays  before  you  like  a  Venus, 
and  you  stand  breathing  in  its  fragrance  and  sunlight.  You 
meditate!  "Ah!  here  would  be  a  place  for  the  home  of  man! 
I  shall  live  hereV  You  put  up  a  humble  cabin;  you  wonder  if 
the  wild  beasts  wiW  disturb  you;  you  listen!  and  hear  a  noise; 
you  look  out, — a  man  stands  before  you;  he  has  a  paper  in  his 
hand,  and  reads  to  you  the  laiv.  It  says:  "Move  on!"  "But 
why,*'  you  ask,  "move  on?" 

"It  is  the  law,"  replies  the  man;  "all  this  land  belongs  to  an 
individual.'^ 

"Does  he  live  upon  it?"  yo\i  murmur. 

"No!"  in  astonishment;  "Tie  lives  in  Europe;  never  in  this  coun- 
try in  his  life;  never  saw  the  land." 

"And  what  makes  it  his?  What  is  behind  this  individual 
greed?" 

"The  law!" 

You  wander  on.  Now  you  come  to  a  lofty  mountain.  You 
meet  men  with  blackened  visages.  You  are  informed  the  moun- 
tain is  formed  of  coal;  that  coal  extends  deep  down  beneath  its 
foundations.  You  ask  these  blackened  visaged  men,  "What  do 
you  dig  coal  for?"  They  answer:  "O,  coal  is  very  valuable  for 
steam,  heating,  and  other  purposes;  just  now  the  collectivity 
could  scarcely  do  without  it." 

"Then  the  collectivity  must  pay  you  well  for  your  hard  work  in 
supplying  it  with  so  needed  an  article  of  comfort  and  use?" 

"O,  no!  Bless  you!  our  pay  is  very,  very  poor,  and  our  hours 
long.  The  people  don't  employ  us;  it  is  individuals  who  own 
the  mine." 

"How  could  individuals  own  the  mine, — who  gives  them  the 
right?" 

"The  law!" 

"How  much  do  you  get  a  ton  for  digging  coal  for  these  individ- 
uals?" 

"O,  a  few  cents." 

"How  much  do  the  people  have  to  pay  the  individuals  per 
ton?" 

"About  ten  or  twelve  hundred  times  as  much." 

"Do  you  think  the  people  could  run  a  coal  mine?" 

"Well  it  don't  take  much  brains,  nor  much  heart  either,  to  run 
a  coal  mine;   it's  no  more  to  run  than  a  post-office." 

You  pass  onward.  Individualism  has  seized  the  earth  and  the 
bowels  of  the  earth.  Now  you  have  crossed  the  mountain  pnd  are 
passing  down  its  side.  Down  below,  nestling  there  among  the 
hills  and  above  the  valley,  you  catch  the  white  gleam  of  a  silvery 
lake.  Ah!  there  you  can  see  it  is  to  supply  the  people  who  live 
in  the  city  below  with  water;  far  from  it,  reaching  down  the  hill- 
sides, along  the  valley,  watering  the  gardens  in  its  path,  reaches 
a  system  of  huge  pipes. 

"What  a  splendid  natural  supply  to  this  precious  fluid  have 
the  people  here!"  you  think.  "And  what  splendid  natural  ad- 
vantage of  positions  for  the  people!"  You  will  go  to  the  lake. 
You  step  towards  it;  but  a  sign  meets  your  gaze  and  proclaims 


OUTLAWED    HUMANITY,  33 

another  law. 

"No  person  allowed  within  the  radiuB  of  the  fence  incloeing 
our  lake!," 

"Per  order  Lake  Grabitub  Co. 

Mr.  Individual.  Presidenf*. 

You  sorrowfully  pass  on.  You  are  now  down  in  the  valley  near 
the  city;  you  are  in  the  city;  you  pause  for  a  moment  to  rest.  You 
are  informed  that  the  spot  and  that  on  which  you  are  pausing  is 
an  individual's  private  property.  You  go  out  into  the  road,  but 
personalism  is  there  also,  and  two  hundred  pounds  of  law,  armed 
with  badge  and  baton,  and  a  fine  rich  brogue,  proclaims  the 
Wandering  Jew's  fiat  of  individualism  to  humanity,  "move  on!" 
Move  on, — out  of  the  resources  of  land,  water,  sunshine,  and  air; 
out  of  the  comforts  and  advantages  of  art  and  science;  out  into 
the  roads;  out,  ay!  out  of  existance! 

Yet  you  can  stay  for  a  few  moments  longer;  you  can  live  a  lit- 
tle while  yet;  live  as  the  cat  allows  the  mouse  to  live,— between 
her  playful  claws!  Yes!  You  can  live  a  little  while  longer;  you 
can  enter  individualism's  armies,  its  criminal  element,  its  prosti- 
tution, its  brutal  meniality,  its  extensive  pauper  family,  its  jails, 
its  penitentiaries;  and  then  when  worn  out  at  last,  as  the  soul's 
central  purity  shrinks  from  individualism's  circumferential 
wretchedness,  it  leaves  its  soiled  and  violated  robes,  and  another 
body  lies  upon  the  brutal  alter  of  individualistic  lust.  But 
what  becomes  of  your  poor  body?  Does  individualism  attend  tC 
the  last  sad  debt?  No!  it  spurns  the  ashes  of  its  victim,  and  tfe^ 
public,  or  the  collectivism,  has  to  bury  the  remains.  Like  fe 
angel,  collectivism  comes  to  perform  that  which  individualisifc 
has  refused.  True!  comes  to  late  for  all  save  this,  but  in  the 
future  it  will  certainly  come  earlier. 

There  may  be  objection  raised  against  nationalism,  though  not 
rightly,  that  it  will  bind  us  in  more  law  than  we  now  travail 
under.  I  answer,  that  under  the  rule  of  individualism  we  are 
under  the  million  and  one  laws  of  private  employers  and  private 
proprietors,  each  having  a  distinct  code  of  its  own  for  the  guid- 
ance of  those  over  whom  it  can  law,  and  that  these  persons,  not  con- 
tent with  their  own  private  decrees  upon  men,  women,  and  child- 
ren, enter  legislatures  and  have  public  laws  made  irr  the  interest  of 
their  private  concerns  as  well,  thus  piling  law  upon  law  until  we 
have  a  pyramid  of  jurisprudence  such  as  never  people  groaned 
under  before.  Also,  be  it  said,  that  many  of  these  countless  pri- 
vate laws  are  so  onerous — for  instance  "that  employees  must  pur- 
chase of  the  companies'  stores" — as  to  amount  to  outrage  and 
robbery. 

As  ninety-  nine  per  cent  of  our  laws  are  the  direct  product  of 
individualism,  to  protect  it  directly  and  indirectly  in  its  unnatural 
posessions,  and  to  preserve  its  order,  and  to  prevent  and  to  decide 
the  conflicts  and  bitter  antagonisms  arising  continually  because 
of  the  endless  confusion  which  it  causes,  it  is  plain  to  be  per- 
ceived that  with  an  end  of  the  reign  of  individualism  there 
would  be  a  corresponding  end  of  the  multitudinous  laws  which  it 
entails;  there  would  be  a  simplification  of  many  laws  into  single 
aws,  and  simple  justice  would  prevail  where  now  complexity  and 


34  OUTLAWED    HUMANITY. 

confusion  confound.  If  nationalism  were  to  take  the  place  of  our 
millions  of  petty  personal  preprietors  and  employers,  their  mill- 
ions of  petty  restrictions  and  so-called  legal  decrees  would  cease, 
and  their  union  of  interests  bring  about  a  union  or  singleization 
of  laws. 

The  spoliation  of  industry  once  abolished  by  the  co-operative 
equality  of  nationalism,  the  principle  cause  of  crime  or  disease, 
hereditary  or  otherwise,  would  be  removed,  and  crime  would 
disappear  in  a  brief  time,  and  in  time  completely,  bo  that  the 
criminal  code  which  makes  up  a  large  part  of  your  jurisprudence, 
combined  with  the  fact  that  the  civil  code  consists  mainly  of 
matters  of  commercial  swindles  and  dishonesties,  all  of  which 
together,  both  criminal  and  civil,  would  alike  be  swept  away  with 
the  removal  of  the  system  which  caused  and  brought  them  into 
existance. 

This  would  be  a  decrease  of  law,  and  a  decrease  of  crime,  a  de- 
crease of  prisons,  and  a  decrease  of  insane  asj  lums  such  as  this 
world  never  witnessed  before. 

Individualism's  laws,  then,  are  behind  all  this  injustice  to  the 
many.     But  what  is  behind  its  laws? 

This  present  structure  of  civilization  and  society  only  endures 
through  the  people's  respect  for  it. 

It  is  not  the  army,  navy,  police  courts,  or  senates  which  confer 
upon  the  laws  their  powers  and  potency.  It  is  the  respect  of  the 
people,  and  the  deference  rendered  by  the  multitude  unto  them. 
This  respect  once  lost,  the  power  of  the  mightiest  throne  vanishes 
into  a  thing  of  the  past. 

It  is  not  what  your  progressive  reasoner  or  what  your  many 
philosophers  comprehend,  nor  what  your  books  compass,  which 
gives  you  your  form  of  government,  but  it  is  what  the  people  as  a 
mass  collectively  comprehend.  This  comprehension  is  the  soul  ol 
your  government;  that  knowledge  the  limit  of  your  liberties. 

All  things  considered,  the  world  to-day  is  not  more  corrupt 
than  yesterday.  On  the  contrary,  it  is  an  honester,  fairer, 
sweeter,  and  purer  world  than  it  ever  was  before,  because  it  is  a 
wiser  world  than  it  ever  was;  and  with  this  increasing  wisdom 
comes  its  increasing  truth. 

Then  why  do  we  behold  so  much  more  corruption  now  than 
ever? 

Because  we  perceive  more.  As  our  perceptions  increase,  we 
behold  the  surrounding  vices  and  errors  which,  although  afflict- 
ing us  for  generations,  afflicted  us  unperceived.  With  our  new- 
born thought  we  comprehend,  and  with  that  comprehension  end 
them. 

Our  new  born  thought  will  yet  raise  us  from  narrrow  personal - 
ism  unto  the  broader  idea  of  collectivism,  and  outlawed  manhood 
and  outlawed  womanhood,  nay  I  outlawed  childhood,  will  yet  be- 
come legal. 


A    DEAD    CHRISTIANITY.  35 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

A   DEAD   CHRISTIANITY. 

Nationalism  is  Christianity  pure  and  simple,  in  politics,  in  in- 
dustry, and  in  society.  It  is  the  real,  living,  breathing,  moving,  and 
acting  sermon  on  the  mount,  and  every  christian  minister  who  be- 
lieves that  theory  is  fit  for  practice,  and  who  is  Christian  in  his 
heart  as  well  as  his  profession,  must  favor  the  unity  of  mankind 
in  all  things.  And  anything  which  continually  with  its  tongue 
preaches  of  the  elevation  of  love  above  the  world,  and  which  con- 
tinually tolerates  and  condones  the  elevation  of  the  world  above 
love,  is  hypocracy,  I  care  not  how  high  its  spires,  or  how  domi- 
nant, numerous,  or  wealthy  its  organizations.  It  is  time  we  had 
a  living  Christianity,  which  recognizes  man  as  the  temple  of  the 
living  God,  and  that  the  earth  and  its  fullness  is  not  the  master 
thereof,  but  the  footstool.  Here  is  your  opportunity,  ye  who  be- 
hove in  a  live  Christianity!  A  Christ  moving,  living,  breathing, 
and  dominant  in  the  hearts  of  a  people,  not  a  dead  Christian- 
ity, dreaming  of  a  dead  Christ,  but  live  Christians,  as  live 
Chnsts,  scattering  the  tables  of  the  money-changers  in  the  tem- 
ples, going  down  in  the  poverty-stricken  allies  of  the  robbed  in- 
dustrial classes,  and  raising  up  its  victims.  Ay!  domg  more 
than  all  this,  inculcating,  advocating,  and  spreading  the  doctrine 
of  equality  as  illustrated  by  the  Master  in  his  last  and  greatest 
of  lessons,  wherein  he,  whom  they  reverenced,  ay!  as  the  Son  of 
the  Universal  Father,  called  for  water,  and,  baring  his  arms  de- 
liberately, washed  the  feet  of  those  who  worshiped  him,  thus 
demonstrating  in  action  his  principle  and  belief  in  the  truth  of 
universal  equality.  It  was  his  last  grand  object-lesson,  and  it 
seems  to  be  the  least  understood  in  Christian  practice  and 
philosophy. 

Oh !  if  Christians  would  only  be  Christians,  not  pagans;  would 
only  take  their  Christianity  out  of  the  skies  and  place  it  upon  the 
earth;  cease  their  mumblings,  mockeries,  and  incantations! 
lie  the  real  articlel  Take  Christianity  down  from  the  alters,  and 
put  it  in  the  ballot  box;  bring  it  into  politics,  and  establish  a 
nationalized  system  of  government.  If  christians  would  cease 
idolatry;  let  go  their  mammon, — ah!  there's  the  rub, — let  go  their 
paganism?  Let  go  that?  You  may  as  well  ask  hate  to  let  go  its 
cruelty. 

Theory  is  a  corpse,  practice  is  life;  add  the  two,  and  you  have 
a  living  being.  Christianity  is  a  corpse  to-day;  it  simply  theori- 
zes, but  does  not  practice.  A  theory  which  is  too  high  for  prac- 
tice is  of  no  account,  and  useless  to  worship.  If  Christianity  is 
good  for  anything,  it  is  good  for  practice;  if  it  is  not,  then  the 
Liord  give  us  something  which  is;  for  a  truth  which  is  imprac- 
ticable is  of  no  earthly  account.  Oh!  the  hollow  ridiculousness 
of  a  landlord,  a  banker,  or  any  other  devotee  of  mammon,  getting 
down  on  his  knees  and  rolling  up  his  eyes,  beseeching  divine 
favor  through  Christ  Jesus, —  through  him  who  said,  "Go  forth, 
preach  my  doctrine,  but  take  nothing  with  ye;  confine  thy 
property  to  a  cloak  and  a  staff." 

Verily,  his  diciples  now  go  forth — laden  with  deeds  and  mort- 


36  A    DEAD    CHRISTIANITY. 

gages,  and  other  kinds  of  death!  grips  upon  their  fellow  men  and 
women;  ay!  upon  the  little  innocents  sold  upon  the  London 
streets  for  a  shilling,  upon  the  bodies  of  young  girls  in  Boston 
and  New  York  doomed  for  the  purposes  of  lust,  and  upon  the  gal- 
lant forms  of  our  country's  youth,  doomed  for  the  streets,  roads, 
prisons,  and  potter's  fields.  Oh  ye  saints  of  a  "goodness"  to  be 
done  somewhere  else,  of  a  heaven  to  be,  after  having  skinned 
men  to  death!  don't  you  think  it  is  time  for  Christian  common 
sense  to  think  of  a  heaven  here  as  well  as  a  heaven  "there;" 
that  the  here  is  as  precious  as  the  there;  that  the  now 
is  as  important  as  the  then;  that  there  is  every  material  in  the 
here  out  of  which  to  make  a  heaven;  that  the  wisdom  and  love 
which  would  make  you  so  sweet  in  the  summer-land  would  make 
you  equally  wholesome  here;  that  the  place  most  needing  angels 
is  the  here;  that  here  is  to-day,  and  that  there  is  to-morrow;  and 
that  to-morrow  never  comes,  and  of  its  nature  never  shall? 

We  want  the  religion  of  the  heaven  here:  for  God  is  here;  this 
is  heaven,  and  eternity  is  now. 

We  want  the  religion  that  weds  the  spiritual  to  the  material, 
the  principle  to  the  politics,  the  prayer  to  the  practice,  the  virtue 
to  the  voting! 

This  is  the  true  religion  and  the  true  salvation,— the  salvation 
of  souls  as  they  come  unto  the  world,— by  presenting  divine  con- 
ditions for  little  children  to  come  unto. 

This  true  religion  and  true  salvation  abolish  the  political  con- 
ditions of  evil  that  lead  us  into  temptation,  and  answer  the  prayer, 
"Lead  us  not  into  temptation,  but  deliver  us  from  evil." 

Patriotism  is  the  first  and  highest  duty  of  piety,  being  the 
removal  of  the  cause  of  unrighteousness.  They  who  confine  sal- 
vation to  souls  contaminated  by  the  world's  sin,  who  extend  not 
salvation  to  the  political  conditions  that  contaminate,  are  guilty 
of  the  world's  sin. 

The  seeking  to  save  after  contamination  is  but  curative,  while 
the  uplifting  of  society  to  the  institution  of  brotherly  love  is  pre- 
ventative. 

The  piety  that  neglects  patriotism,  and  that  leaves  the  pure 
child  life  of  the  world  in  evil,  makes  sinners  collectively  faster 
than  churches  can  save  individually. 

Christ  said,  while  healing  the  poverty-stricken,  "The  works  that 
I  do  shall  he  do  also;  and  greater  works  than  these  shall  he  do." 
We  have  come  after  him,  and  we  can  do  greater  works.  He 
healed  the  victims  whom  poverty  had  diseased;  we  can  abolish 
the  poverty  producing  the  conditions  which  diseased  them. 

We  want  Christianity  of  the  head,  also,  as  well  as  of  the  heart.  ■ 
It  is  a  good  thing  to  have  our  heart  overflowing  with  principle; 
but  our  heart  can  overflow  like  a  double-barreled  artesian  well 
and  its  stream  run  back  into  the  vastness  of  waters  whence  it 
came  and  never  bring  a  flower  upon  earth,  if  our  head  does  not 
overflow  in  sympathetic  ideas,  plans,  resolves,  and  wills,  in 
conjunction  with  our  Christian  feelings.  To  be  a  whole  Chris- 
tian, we  must  bring  our  Christianity  into  common  life,  we  must 
bring  it  into  our  home,  into  our  nation.  We  must  bring  it  into 
our  politics.    Not  that  we  must  have  a  church    party;  for  He 


I 


A    DEAD    CHRISTIANITY.  37 

never  built  a  church,  but  was  crucified  by  a  church.  His  church 
was  in  the  mind  of  man,  built  of  living  principles,  espousing 
equality,  fraternity,  and  liberty,  all  of  which,  with  his  sweet 
hands,  he  practiced,  and  for  which  which  great  advocacy  and 
sweet  practice  he  laid  down  his  life. 

Before  His  time  the  church  had  been  advocating  his  theories, 
but  never  practicing.  He  practiced  them,  taught  their  practice, 
advocated  positively  that  the  conditions  of  heaven  be  immediately 
inaugurated  on  earth. 

"On  earth  as  it  is  in  heaven,"  was  the  rule  he  laid  down, — was 
the  life  he  led. 

I  am  sure  there  are  no  deeds  nor  mortgages,  no  death-grips  upon 
the  necessities  of  life,  no  monopolies,  no  little  babies  sold  for  a 
shilling,  no  pawn  broker  shops,  no  prisons,  no  poor-houses,  no 
potter's  fields  there;  and  if  it  was  done  here  on  earth  as  it  is  done 
in  heaven,  there  would  be  none  here  as  well.  So  long  as  mind 
preached  of  heaven  in  the  abstract,  in  the  far  off  lands  of  vapor, 
and  the  hereafter,  the  beast  Personalism  felt  secure  in  his  cita- 
dels of  steeples,  altars  and  choirs,  and  snuffed  the  daily  incense 
of  the  wretches  who  worshiped  the  corpse  of  a  truth  laying  dead 
upon  its  alters, — a  corpse  which,  if  once  endowed  with  life,  if 
once  liberated  from  its  sepulchers  and  set  up  a  living,  breathing 
reality  in  the  homes,  in  the  industries,  in  the  science,  and  in  the 
art  of  the  nation,  the  prayer,  "on  earth  as  it  is  done  in  heaven," 
would  be  realized  to  the  letter.  Yes,  so  long  as  the  churches 
confined  truth  to  their  alters  as  an  aerial  theory,  and  left  its  prac- 
tice until  after  death,  the  beast  Property  was  satisfied,  as  it  is 
to-day.  But  a  star  arose  in  the  east,  and  a  child  came,  propos- 
ing to  the  churches  to  add  practice  to  their  theory.  What  a 
rumpus  it  made,  and  what  a  tragedy  it  resulted  in  I 

The  religion  which  Christ  preached  is  called  Christianity,  after 
himself,  after  his  name;  but  that  does  not  express  what  his  re- 
ligion was, — express  his  religion's  real  term.  Its  real  term  is, 
"humanity," — all  humanity!  not  a  church,  not  a  society,  not  a 
sect,  not  a  word  about  divinity, — all  was  intensely  human  about 
nim.  He  entered  the  temples  uporl  the  sabbath,  gathering  the 
wretched  poor  around  him, — stooped-backed,  grey-headed  slaves 
of  toil,  tired  looking  mothers  with  their  sick-faced  babies  peeping 
from  ragged  robes,  people  who  had  heard  his  kindly  words  and 
witnessed  his  loving  deeds,  wretched  cripples  and  despised 
wrecks,  they  had  heard  of  theory  long,  but  here  was  practice  at 
last!  They  had  heard  of  a  God  in  heaven,  but  here  was  a  God 
on  earth,  where  Gods  are  needed, — a  man!  He  carressed  and  spoke 
kindly  to  them,  and  his  love  went  forth  and  healed  them.  They 
crowded  round  him  and  heard  the  words  "on  earth  as  it  is  done 
in  heaven."  They  had  heard  and -believed — pagans  as  they  were; 
pagans  as  they  are  to-day— in  the  impossibility  of  heaven  upon 
earth;  that  heaven  is  wholly  impracticable  on  earth;  that  in- 
justice, cruelty,  and  hate  are  natural  monarchs  of  the  here;  that 
people  should  never  expect  the  right  on  earth,  that  selfishness  is 
an  eternal,  unchangeable  fixture  on  earih,  and  reigns  by  the 
natural  fitness  of  earthly  things, — a  demoniac  lie,^a  lie  upon 
whose  dark   neck  the  Master  sat    his  feet  of  light,  and  said, 


2G2!7^H 


38  A    DEAD    CHRISTIANITY. 

"On  earth  as  it  is  done  in  heaven." 

Then  from  the  dens  of  the  money-changers,  from  the  landlords 
and  monopolists,  came  the  cry:  "He  blasphemes;  he  breaketh 
the  holy  day;  he  cures  sick  upon  the  sabbath.  He  claims  man 
and  God  to  be  one;  heaven  to  be  but  a  condition  creatable  on 
earth.     Crucify  him!" 

If  this  doctrine  was  to  be  enacted,  what  was  to  become  of  rent 
interest,  and  profit?  what  was  to  become  of  the  money-changers, 
landlords,  and  monopolists?  There  certainly  could  be  no  such 
gentry  in  heaven,  and  if  it  was  to  be  "on  earth  as  it  is  done  in 
heaven,"  then  humanity  would  be  actually  rid  of  these  ever-post- 
poning heaven-over-there-ists.  This  would  never  do!  So  the 
over-there  church  rose  up  and  crucified  him,  then  chiseled  him 
out  in  lovely  marble,  set  him  up  in  a  niche  and  fell  down  upon 
its  apostolic  knees  and  worshiped  him, — the  dead  Christ!  And 
alas!  the  worst  of  it  is,  they  have  been  crucifying  everything 
which  looks  like  him  alive,  and  worshiping  everything  which 
looks  like  him  dead,  ever  since.  In  fact,  it  is  a  continual  crucific- 
tion  for   practice,  and  a  continual  worship  for  theory. 

Heaven  ever  awaits  our  acceptance  here.  The  sun,  the  rain, 
the  rich  earth,  the  marble  quarries,  the  mineral  veins,  the  ready 
forests,  the  fruitful  things,  earth's  endless  bounty,  the  willing 
hands  of  toil,  the  teemmg  brain  of  genius,  the  warm,  red  heart  of 
love,  all  wait  ready  to  give  us  paradise.  We  have  but  to  cease 
selfishness,  but  be  willing  that  our  brothers  and  sisters  be  as 
happy  as  ourselves,  but  be  willing  that  all  have  their  share  in 
God's  bounty,  and  lo,  here  we  have  heaven! 

The  doctrine  that  seeks  elsewhere  what  here  awaits  us  is  not 
religion,  but  sacrilege.  Heaven  is  as  desirable  here  as  after 
death.  The  drapery  of  God  is  as  beautiful  here  as  elsewhere. 
No  place  is  as  fitter  for  heaven  than  here;  no  time  is  better  than 
now.  Angels  are  as  bright  here  as  angels  elsewhere.  Nothing 
is  more  divine  than  a  good  man;  nothing  more  sacred  than  a  true 
woman;  nothing  more  heavenly  than  a  brotherhood  of  love. 

The  hour  has  come  for  the  religion  of  the  here  and  the  now; 
for  the  religion  of  this  world;  the  religion  that  saves  here;  the 
religion  that  drives  the  money-changers  and  dove-sellers  from 
the  temple,  and  that  restores  the  earth  to  the  children  of  the 
Lord;  the  religion  that  saves  the  soul  and  the  body;  that  eaves 
not  after  death,  but  that  saves /?'o??i  death;  the  religion  of  the 
kingdom  of  heaven  here. 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

THE   MAGIC   LANTERN. 

If  the  idea  of  collectivism  were  to  replace  the  idea  of  individ- 
ualism, the  idea  of  nationalism  were  to  replace  the  idea  of 
personal  proprietorship,  and  if  this  change  of  ideas  took  place 
in  the  minds  of  the  people  now  entertaining  the  error,  a  trans- 
formation would  occur  in  the  scenes  of  society  as  marvelous  as  it 
would  be  grand.  The  present  pictures  of  prisons,  gibbets,  dun- 
geons, alms-houses,  insane  asylums,  dens  of  crime,  vice,  and  dis- 
ease, hovels  of  poverty,  broken-down  humanity,  sickly  children, 


THE    MAGIC    LANTERN.  39 

and  wretched  women,  would  fade  away  like  the  pictures  of  the 
magic  lantern,  and  would  be  replaced  witn  pictures  of  beauty, 
power,  and  grandeur. 

Let  us  change  these  scenes;  let  us  replace  individualism  with 
collectivism;  let  us  put  a  new  view  in  the  slide  of  the  magic 
lantern  of  existence. 

Behold!  we  have  here  a  view  of  collective  proprietorship,  or 
nationalism.  The  huts  and  hovels  of  the  toilers  have  dis- 
appeared. Where  they  once  unsightly  stood  is  now  reared  a  mar- 
velous, tremendous,  and  immense  palace, — a  palace  of  a  new 
najesty  and  beauty.  Here  statuary  abounds,  midst  wondrous 
columns,  fairy  arches,  and  historical  illuminated  casements. 
Here  fountains  and  children  play,  midst  flowers  and  foliage;  dis- 
tant music  flows  tremulously,  whispering  softly  of  the  new 
harmony.  Here  are  maidens  fair,  as  ever  maidens  are,  but  these 
of  a  fairness  never  before, — soul  flowers, — incarnations  of  purity! 
And  here  are  men,  too,  not  the  leering  dudes  of  the  past,  as  were 
wont  to  predicate  manhood  upon  deeds  and  mortgages,  but  men, 
erect  of  limb  and  with  mind  stamped  upon  every  feature,  whose 
great  repose,  whose  speech,  whose  silence,  all  alike  mark  them 
great,  and  yet  as  gentle  as  heaven's  idea  of  men  would  have  men. 

And  this  palace!  Of  such  wealth,  of  such  splendor!  These 
fair  women  and  grand  men,— what  of  them,  pray?  Whose  is  this 
palace,  and  who  the  happy  chivalry  adorning  its  vast  and  charm- 
ing scene?  What  miglaty  millionaire  hath  builded  this  unpar- 
alleled monument  of  man's  energy  and  woman's  taste, — this 
choice  expression  of  human  power?  And  who,  after  it  was  tnas 
built  and  thus  adorned,  drove  the  builders  and  adorners,  as  usual, 
out  upon  the  highways  to  seek  their  breadless  and  fireless  dens  of 
penury,  and  then,  in  his  lordliness,  through  perfumed  cards, 
invited  this  innumerable  retinue  of  titled  noble  lords  and  ladies 
to  enjoy  this  princely  hospitality?  "Ay,  tell  us  of  this  mighty 
host,  these  lords  and  ladies,  this  palace  fair,"  you  cry;  and  col- 
lectivism replies: — 

"The  proprietor  of  this  vast  palace,  more  beautiful  than  Solo- 
mon's, and  of  scenes  more  chaste, — this  home  such  as  Aladdin's 
dream  unequals,  belongs  to  one  more  great  than  was  ever  proprie- 
tor before.  Ay,  the  greatest  personage  on  earth!  Never  was 
such  palace,  never  such  proprietor,  previous  to  this.  Who,  think 
you,  be  it?" 

"Tell   us." 

"Know,  then,  that  this  proprietor  is  none  other  than  the  people; 
that  these  lords  and  ladies  are  the  persons  themselves  who 
builded  and  who  adorned  this  palace;  that  its  builders  and 
inhabitants  are  one." 

"What!  the  people  who  build  palaces  inhabiting  them?  This 
is  a  strange  situation  of  affairs!  Where  are  the  poor?  I  see  no 
wretched  mendicants  before  the  walls!" 

"Here; — there  are  no  poor." 

"But  do  not  certain  good  people  say:  'Ye  shall  have  the  poor 
with  you  always'?" 

"Ay!  And  ye  shall  have  the  poor  with  you  always,  until  you 
arise  to  brotherhood.    Here  you  behold  brotherhood, — national- 


40  THE     MAGIC     LANTEBK. 

ism!     All  rich." 

'•What  mighty  ruins  are  those  I  behold  in  the  distance, — that 
somber  and  repellant  mass  of  crumbling  walls,  wherein,  here  and 
there,  along  its  frowning  front,  are  narrow  casements  crossed 
with  massive  bars,  whose  massiveness  even  in  its  somber 
ruin  chills  and  numbs  my  very  marrow, — what  castle  of  sorrow 
was  this?" 

"That  was  once  a  penitentiary.  In  the  reign  of  individual 
selfishness,  it  stood  the  central  and  principal  institution  of  civili- 
zation. In  the  time  it  flourished,  things  had  so  gone  from  bad  to 
worse,  and  machinery  been  perfected  to  such  degree,  that  labor 
was  in  scarce  demand,  and  the  people  consequently  starving." 

"Starving  because  machinery  made  plenty?" 

"Ayl  for  although  machinery  increased  the  powers  of  the  peo- 
ple to  produce,  machinery  was  under  the  proprietorship  of  indiv- 
iduals and  run  for  profit,  not  for  the  people;  individualism 
starved  the  collectivity." 

"A  nice  state  of  affairs!    Were  the  people  sane? 

"Perfectlyl  It  was  a  slate  of  affairs,  however,  which  built  the 
collossal  structure  whose  ruins  you  behold.  'Tis  said  that  one 
half  the  people  became  prisoners  and  the  other  half  stood  on 
guard." 

"A  prosperous  institution,  certainly!    Did  it  pay?" 

"O  yes!  it  paid,  and  the  crop  of  sorrow  it  yielded  was  enormous. 
At  length  the  idea  of  nationalism  arose,  and  the  prisoners  and 
their  guards  quietly  walked  out  and  built  the  splendid  palace 
which  you  see.  A  palace  is  just  as  easy  to  build  as  a  prison,  if 
a  people  so  desire." 

CHAPTER  XV. 


The  only  solution  of  the  problem  of  land  monopoly  is  the  nat- 
ionalization of  land;  all  other  propositions  are  temporal,  and  if  of 
any  value,  lead  but  to  this  ultimatum.  The  great  evil  of  personal 
proprietorship  of  land  can  only  be  effaced  by  its  restoration  to 
the  people,  not  to  a  part  thereof,  or  to  a  class,  but  to  the  whole 
people;  not  to  be  divided  and  to  be  parceled  out  to  this  one  or 
that  one,  but  to  be  administered  upon  as  a  whole,  for  the  benefit 
of  the  entire  nation. 

And  to  this  complexion  it  must  come  at  last,  and  come  through 
the  very  processes  of  landlordism  itself.  Yes;  it  will  come  to 
this,  in  its  turn,  as  one  by  one  our  different  private  institutions 
become  public  departments.  The  nationalization  of  transportat- 
ion, telegraph,  telephone,  and  express  lines  will  prepare  the  nec- 
essary conditions  for  the  nationalization  of  land. 

There  can  be  no  justice  unless  every  individual  has  equal  priv- 
ilege, and  there  can  be  no  equal  privilege  where  one  has  land  and 
another  has  not;  and  for  all  alike  to  have  equal  privilege  in  land, 
good  and  bad,  poor  soil  and  rich  soil,  near  land  and  far  land,  there 
is  no  other  way,  nor  can  be  any  other  way,  save  by  the  nationali- 
zation or  collective  proprietorship  of  land.  Any  other  system 
confers  advantage  to  some,  and  disadvantages  to  others;  a  garden 


LAND.  41 

spot  to  one,  and  a  barren  rock  unto  another;  near  the  market 
and  far  from  the  market  to  diflferent  personalities.  Justics  means 
equality  unto  all  men;  and  justice  in  land  means  that  all  men 
shall  own  all  lands,  and  this  means  collectivism  in  land,  and  can 
mean  nothing  save  this,  and  this  alone. 

Private  proprietorship  of  one  man  over  the  earth  to  the  exclus- 
ion of  another  is  a  proposition  so  utterly  unjust,  so  clearly 
inhuman,  as  to  seriously  reflect  upon  the  common  sense  of  the 
age.  Until  the  landlord  shows  me  the  Almighty's  signature  upon 
bis  title,  I  will  hold  to  the  belief  that  his  title  is  a  sham.  But 
the  landlord  has  done  something,  and  I  am  not  opposed  to  him 
personally;  I  am  only  opposed  to  his  sham  titles.  But  the  land- 
lord, like  us  all,  has  been  taught  to  believe  that  the  whole  has  no 
rights  which  the  part  is  bound  to  respect,  especially  as  far  as  the 
appropriation  of  the  earth  is  concerned.  In  this  general  scirm- 
mage  to  corner  the  rights  of  posterity,  oppressor  and  oppressed 
alike  partake  in  the  outrage,  as  usual. 

Selfishness  in  landlordism  has  been  evolving  and  building 
better  than  it  knew.  As  science  expanded  civilization,  it  also 
expanded  landlordism.  Science  presented  the  mechanism  fitted 
for  the  culture  of  large  tracts  of  land,  and  land  monopoly  pre- 
sented the  large  tracts  of  land  fitted  for  the  mechanism;  the 
union  of  these  two  gives  us  to-day  a  systematized  cultivation  of 
land. 

If  monopoly  had  never  put  its  tentacles  upon  the  lands,  and 
aggregated  them  in  the  folds  of  its  greed,  if  land  had  remained 
divided  up  in  little  holdings,  little  processes  of  cultivation  would 
have  continued  to  suggest  themselves. 

Co-operation  by  the  holders  of  these  little  holdings,  and  the 
forming  of  their  many  little  farms  into  one  farm,  would  certainly 
have  suggested  to  science  the  invention  of  the  present  improve- 
ments, by  presenting  to  her  vast  unfenced  tracts  of  land  to  be 
cultivaied;  but  where  do  little  holders  of  land  ever  present  this 
feature  of  land  to  science?  and  when  have  they  ever  done  it? 
No;  the  nature  of  little  holders  of  land  is  to  hold  their  little 
holdings  apart,  and  hold  them  apart  very  hard.  So  landlordism 
in  man  has  to  be  destroyed  at  its  top,  at  its  head, — at  land 
monopoly, — and  here  in  America  it  shall  receive  its  quietus.  But 
let  no  landlord  be  alarmed;  he  will  lose  nothing,  but  be  immeas- 
urably the  gainer.  For  nationalism  takes  all  in,  monopolist  and 
landlord,  and  gives  him  a  better  thing  than  he  ever   had    before. 

When  landlordism  has  reached  out  and  absorbed  the  lands  of 
the  people  and  become  land  monopoly,  the  wholesale  landlord, 
then  comes  the  pinch  upon  the  little  holder  with  his  little  hold- 
ing. The  monopolist  hires  upon  his  vast  acres  immense  num- 
bers of  the  landless  people,  these  he  divides  into  special  depart- 
ments, his  elaborate  machinery  is  placed  in  position,  and  the 
work  begins.  Under  this  combined  and  concerted  effort  many 
branches  of  industry  are  concentrated,  and  at  this  given  point 
act  in  unison.  Then  the  landless  people  behold  their  kindergar- 
ten lesson  of  co-operation, — behold  the  many  united  holdings 
plowed,  harrowed,  seeded,  cut,  thrashed,  and  milled  at  but  a  min- 
imum outlay  of  effort;  the  cultivation  of  an  immense  tract  at 


42  LAND. 

scarcely  more  than  the  previous  cost  of  the  cultivation  of  a  small 
tract.  And  the  holders  of  small  tracts  learn  their  kindergarten 
lesson  also:  that  small  landlordism  has  got  to  go;  that  it  cannot 
compete  with  irresistible  co-operation. 

But  co-operation,  though  inaugurated  thus  by  individualism,  is 
national  in  its  economy  and  developes  nationalwards. 

As  this  system  of  co-operative  culture  proceeds,  the  absorption 
of  the  land  proceeds  also;  for  the  greater  the  monopoly  of  land, 
the  greater  the  amount  of  co-operation  applied  in  its  culture. 

This  state  of  circumstances  steadily  strengthens  the  larger  and 
weakens  the  smaller,  until  at  last  even  immense  holdings  cannot 
compete  with  their  yet  immenser  competitors,  and  the  lesser 
estates  flow  into  the  greater  as  fluid  flows  into  a  vortex;  for 
individualism  in  its  greed  ever  devours  individualism. 

If  agriculture  were  solely  in  its  primitive,  petty  farm  condition, 
it  would  not  yet  be  ripe  for  the  scythe  of  nationalism;  but  thanks 
to  the  ego.  the  "me,"  the  little  self,  we  have  a  state  of  land  cul- 
ture to-day  which  has  arrived  at  maturity  for  political   adoption. 

In  many,  many  places,  land  monopolists  have  immense  armies 
of  our  people,  accoutered  with  tremendous  and  wondrous  imple- 
ments of  cultivation,  farming  huge  tracts  of  land,  huger  than 
many  of  our  principalities  and  kingdoms  of  old, — farms  of  such 
immensity  that  it  requires  fleets  of  ships  to  transport  their  single 
product. 

Here  we  have  centralization  of  farms  and  of  farming.  Here  we 
have  a  system  of  agriculture  designed  by  selfishness  to  absorb 
individual  interests,  and  therefore  which  must  inevitably  absorb 
the  individual  interest  of  its  designers  as  well,  and  become 
nationalized.  For  monopolistic  systems  being  co-operative  in 
their  economy,  they  must  therefore  gravitate  to  nationalism  as 
they  proceed  in  their  course;  and  landlordism  cannot  blame  any 
one  for  its  final  engulfment  in  nationalism,  since  it  swallows  its 
own  lovely  head,  and  ever  gives  birth  to  the  very  thing  which 
devours  itself. 

This  is  just  as  it  should  be, — evil  destroying  itself  and  leaving 
good  behind;  the  light  coming  out  of  darkness. 

In  the  nationalization  of  such  farms  as  we  have  mentioned, 
the  economy  of  their  management  need  not  be  changed  in  the 
slightest  detail.  All  being  ready  for  political  adoption,  their 
heads  would  have  simply  to  report  to  the  interior  department  of 
state,  and  Uncle  Sam  would  take  their  created  wealth,  instead  of 
an  individual. 

Under  this  state  of  affairs,  all  farming  would  be  carried  on  with 
every  improved  appliance  and  advantage,  and  the  power  of 
co-operation  would  extend  everywhere,  in  agriculture  and  horti- 
culture, and  co-operation  would  then  enrich  the  people  as  it  is 
now  impoverishing  them, — being  extended  to  all,  and  not,  as  now, 
pampering  to  the  insane  eelfishness  of  personalism.  We  would 
then  have  no  unhappy  husbandmen  toiling  separately  with  their 
divided  force  fenced  apart,  scattered,  and  weakened  over  a  mil- 
lion petty  farms,  each  alone  by  himself  competing  with  the 
co-operation  of  monopoly,  and  steadily  going  to  the  wall, — each 
in  himself  presenting  the  feature  of  an  individual  singly  com- 


LAND.  43 

peting  against  the  combined  strength  of  thousands  organized 
into  unity. 

Under  nationalization  of  land,  a  divided  industry  would  have 
no  longer  to  struggle  in  this  present  man-killing  contest  of  divis- 
ion against  unity. 

Everywhere  the  farmer  has  to  face  the  power  of  co-operation, 
— the  co-operation  of  science  in  labor-saving  machinery,  the 
co-operation  of  lands  in  continual  and  uninterurpted  stretches  of 
country,  the  co-operation  of  individual  labors,  and  the  co-opera- 
tion of  transportation.  All  these  advantages  he  beholds  in  the 
hands  of  his  competitor,  the  land  monopolist.  He  cannot  farm 
without  facing  and  competing  with  these,  unless  he  proposes  to 
enter  savagery  and  shut  himself  off  from  the  advantages  of 
civilization.  He  must  either  thus  shut  himself  off,  or  compete 
and  go  down,  or  adopt  the  nationalization  of  land,  and 
transform  this  co-operation  of  individualism  into  the  co-operation 
of  collectivism. 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

AIR,  LIGHT,  WATER. 

In  this  reign  of  personalism,  air  and  light  are  almost  commodies, 
and  as  nearly  controlled  as  though  they  were  of  less  subtle  na- 
ture. You  may  not  be  able  to  controll  a  thing  directly,  but  you 
may  indirectly,  by  the  control!  of  something  else.  The  monopo- 
list cannot  bale  up  air,  nor  bushel  up  light,  but  he  can  get  his 
tentacles  upon  other  things  which  effect  the  cornering,  and  do 
the  baling  and  the  busheling  as  effectually  as  though  these  ele- 
ments were  of  some  denser  material.  Allow  me  to  confine  you 
in  a  dark,  ill-ventilated  apartment  at  my  pleasure,  and  I  have  a 
corner  on  your  light  and  air  as  far  as  you  are  concerned,  and  I 
can  give  you  air  by  the  quart,  and  light  by  the  yard,  as  it  appears 
to  me  to  suit  my  "profit  on  goods."  I'll  fix  light  and  air  for  you 
until  you  are  as  pale  from  the  want  of  light,  and  as  weak  from 
the  want  of  air,  as  ever  personalism  made  a  candidate  for  the 
grave. 

Yes!  the  control  of  manufacture,  which  includes  all  those 
countless  people,  old  and  young  even  away  down  in  infancy, — for 
personalism  don't  object  to  child  murder  any  more  than  it  does  to 
youth  and  maiden  removal, — does  control  and  bend  to  its  profit 
the  free  elements  of  existence,  air  and  light.  Fourteen  hours  a 
day  with  the  pandemonium  of  rattling,  clattering  machinery  in 
your  ears,  the  odors  of  friction-scorched  oil  in  your  nostrils,  a 
continual  sameness  of  action,  and  the  mind  a  vacuum,  is  a  splen- 
did garden  for  the  cultivation  of  serfs — to  raise  a  progeny  of 
serfs — to  stuff  the  maw  of  insatiable  greed, — the  greed  not  of  a 
man,  but  of  men's  individualism.  Oh,  for  a  decade  of  a  national- 
ized manufacture!  Oh,  for  air  and  light  to  be  taken  from  his 
clutch  of  selfishness!  Oh,  for  this  remedy  which  evolution,  intel- 
ligence, and  love  offers  to  the  factory  slaves  of  our  country. 
And  yet  no  one  can  do  anything  of  himself  in  the  premises,  save  in 
spreading  the  gospel  of  popular  co-operation.  It  is  a  crime  of  the 
whole,  for  which  the  whole  suffer,  and  which  only   the  whole  can 


44  AIR,     LIGHT,     WATER. 

remove. 

The  vast  systems  of  manufacture  now  administered  by  pri- 
vate proprietorship  are  of  national  character.  Many  of  these  in- 
stitutions have  reached  such  perfection  in  their  several  depart- 
ments and  general  direction  as  to  be  almost  automatic  in  their 
running;  in  fact  their  proprietors  have  nothing  to  do  with  and 
know  nothing  of  their  business;  the  people  engaged  in  their 
several  departments  run  the  institutions,  devoid  of  outside  di- 
rection, and  all  the  proprietors  do  in  the  premises  is  to  absorb 
the  product,  giving  the  employees  for  compensation  exactly  what 
they  give  their  steam-engines,  viz.,  a  certain  amount  of  material 
to  keep  them  running,  and  no  more.  Thus  personalism  places 
labor  upon  equality  with  its  machinery, — virtually  refusing  the 
recognition  of  mind  or  soul.     Yet  religion  cries  not  out  against  it. 

I  have  said  that  the  proprietors  of  many  of  these  establish- 
ments have^  nothing  to  do  and  know  nothing  of  their  workings; 
and  I  want, "then,  to  know  by  what  right,  natural  or  artificial,  it  is 
that  an  individual  takes  the  product  of  an  establishment,  who 
has  had  nothing  to  do  with  and  who  knows  nothing  of  its  work- 
ings, and  who  is  as  effectually  a  stranger  to  it  as  is  the  road-agent 
to  the  traveler  who  bids  him  "good  morning,"  and  relieves  him  of 
his  purse.  Verily,  a  system  of  industry  which  is  thus  conducted 
by  its  employees  is  ripe  for  nationalization,  that  its  products  may 
be  turned  to  the  benefit  of  the  people,  who  are  the  deserving 
factors  in  the  case.  Is  not  this  justice?  Why  shall  it  not  pre- 
vail? Would  not  this  lessen  the  needlessly  long  hours,  the  dis- 
honest compensation,  improve  the  healthfulness  of  the  arrange- 
ments, and  free  the  air  and  light  of  dungeoned  employees,  if 
manufacture  was  run  for  humanity's  sake,  and  not  for  individual- 
istic sordidness? 

Water  should  be  nationalized  as  well  as  land.  This  idea  of  in- 
dividuals controlling  and  selling  water  is  on  a  par  with  land 
proprietorship!  Wherever  there  is  even  municipal  control  of 
water,  aid  cities  furnish  their  own  supply,  there  is  general  satis- 
faction; for  if  the  body  politic  cannot  satisfy  itself,  where,  oh 
where,  is  that  marvelous  individual  who  can?  On  the  contrary, 
wherever  an  individual  furnishes  and  controls  a  community's 
water,  there  is  the  same  friction  and  trouble  that  are  always 
found  wherever  individualism  has  thrown  its  narrow  bands  around 
a  public  necessity.  Filthy  condition  of  the  element,  slovenly  care 
of  its  conditions,  parsimonious  supply,  and  extortionate  charges 
are  a  few  of  the  concomitants  of  private  water  systems  supply- 
ing public  communities,  which  a  spirit  of  unity  and  a  common 
understanding  upon  the  part  of  these  communities  should  not 
tolerate  for  a  moment.  As  the  idea  of  nationalism  assumes 
definiie  shape  in  the  mind  of  the  people,  its  control  of  water  will 
reveal  itself  in  many  beautiful  and  health-giving  ways;  living 
streams  and  fountains  will  play  amid  statuary  in  our  thorough- 
fares and  public  paths,  not  based  upon  the  niggardly  architecture 
and  furnishings  of  individualism,  but  built  up  of  nationalistic 
character,  grand,  beautiful,  and  generous,  out  of  rarest  marbles, 
now  confined  by  the  niggardliness  of  personalism  to  the  silence  of 
their  quarries,  and  all  erected  by  a  ready-waiting,  seeking  indue- 


AIR,     LIGHT,     WATER.  45 

try,  now  kept  idle  and  unemployed  by  the  same  paralyzing  errors, 
which  would  even  debar  us  of  a  necessary  supply  of  the  fluid 
itself. 

Under  the  nationalistic  civilization,  water  would  be  rendered 
one  of  the  charms  of  social  home  scenes;  as  it  is  now  one  of  the 
principal  features  of  natural  scenery.  The  most  beautiful,  health- 
ful, instructive  as  well  as  useful  appurtenances  of  refined  civili- 
zation will  be  formed  from  it  in  the  coming  nation,  giving  health 
purity,  and  pleasure  to  the  people. 

Individualism  in  a  thousand  ways  shuts  us  off  from  the 
pleasures  lying  yet  unextracted  from  this  element,  as  it  shuts 
us  out  from  the  natural  enjoyment  of  nature's  many  other  re- 
sources. 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

RENT,   INTEREST,   PROFIT,   AND  TAXATION. 

The  abolition  of  rent  would  result  in  the  abolition  of  an  enor- 
mous degree  of  poverty;  and  every  person  who  would  love  to  see 
the  world  peaceful  and  happy  devoutly  wishes  this.  The  aboli- 
tion of  private  proprietorship  in  land,  or  the  nationalization  of 
land,  would  result  in  the  annihilation  of  rent.  For  one  man  to 
have  to  pay  another  for  the  right  to  a  place  on  the  earth  is  the 
closest  definition  of  the  word  "rent"  we  can  reach.  This  having 
to  pay  another  for  the  right  to  a  place  on  the  earth  would  be 
swept  away  by  nationalism;  the  earth  would  belong  to  the  people 
not  to  persons  here  or  there,  now  or  then;  not  to  the  few  occu- 
pants in  the  present,  but  to  all  peu'ple,  of  all  places,  of  all  times, — 
to  the  human  race, — for  them  and  theirs  forever.  Under  national- 
ism, the  earth  would  be  devoted  to  the  good  of  society;  upon  it 
society  v/ould  place  its  society  palaces,  pleasure-grounds,  indus- 
trial buildings,  railroads,  and  other  appurtenances  necessary, 
agricultural  and  horticultural  tracts,  and  every  other  species  ol 
institutions  necessary  to  a  civilized  civilization.  No  merchant 
would  have  to  break  his  heart  over  the  gloom  of  the  approaching 
rent  day,  no  toiler  dread  it  as  a  pestilence;  for  rent  is  not  an  ex- 
change of  one  thing  for  another,  but  one  thing  for  nothing. 

An  equal  exchange  or  payment  for  the  cost  and  sustaining  of 
the  thing  used  is  a  just  transaction;  but  when  the  payment  or 
exchange  continues  on  and  on,  over  and  above  the  cost  and  sus- 
taining of  the  thing  used,  that  is  "rent," — that  is  something 
cliarged  for  nothing  recieved.  And  if  you  were  to  stop  a  man 
upon  the  highway,  and  were  to  say  to  him.  "my  dear  sir,  will  you 
please  give  me  a  dollar?"  the  man  would  naturally  feel  inquisi- 
tive, and  reply,  "For  what  shall  I  give  you  a  dollar,  my  dear 
brother?"  and  you  should  reply,  '"For  nothing," — then  an  idea  of 
the  injustice  of  the  transactian  would  arise  within  his  mind  and  he 
would  reply,  "This  is  something  for  nothing,  have  you  no  other 
reason  why  I  should  make  this  exchange?"  And  you  would  mur- 
mur, "None  whatever,  my  dear  sir,  save  this  other  slight  reason," 
— drawing  his  attention  to  a  deadly  sand-bag  in  your  hand.  Upon 
this  positively  convincing  explanation,  your  dear  brother  would 
immediately  become  converted,  and  exchange  with  you  "some- 


46  BENT,    INTEREST,    PROFIT,    AND    TAXATION. 

thing  for  nothing."  But  the  police  would  be  after  you  next  day 
for  a  closer  examination  into  the  grounds  of  your  exchange  idea, 
and  probably  the  penitentiary  would  enter  into  the  argument. 
Yet  "rent"  upon  land  is  precisely  the  same  thing,  and  the  sand- 
bag which  the  private  appropriator  of  land  uses  in  his  argument 
is"  starvation  and  death,"— about  as  formidable  a  sand-bag  as  you 
could  use  to  convince  a  landless  man  of  the  justice  of  "rent",  or 
"something  for  nothing." 

Interest  is  the  same  thing  over  again, — and  sand-bag  and  all, — 
only  another  kind  of  a  gentleman,  with  another  kind  of  sand- 
bag, demanding  the  same  thing  over  again,  viz.,  "something  for 
nothing." 

A  just  exchange  is  no  robbery, — a  dollar  for  a  dollar  is  a  just 
exchange, — but  a  dollar  and  a  half  for  a  dollar  is  a  half  a  dollar 
for  nothing,  and  is  a  half-dollar  given  where  a  half-dollar  has  not 
been  received,  and  is  therefore  something  for  nothing, — the  same 
as  "rent";  for  interest  is  merely  "rent"  on  money, — another  kind 
of  sand-club  is  another  man's  hand.  You  may  object  to  this  kind 
of  exchange;  for  in  this  kind  of  commerce  everything  goes  all  one 
way,  and  results  in  the  same  inevitable  disaster  ever  attending 
the  person  who  has  the  "nothing"  end  of  the  commerce.  But 
what  are  you  going  to  do  about  it?  If  you  refuse,  there  is  the 
sand- bag  of  disaster  and  death.  You  must  make  the  exchange 
under  the  circumstances. 

The  nationalization  of  money  would  remedy  and  abolish  inter- 
est. The  government  would  be  the  employer  and  the  capitalist, 
and  as  the  people  would  be  the  government,  they  would  really  be 
their  own  employer  and  their  own  capitalist,  everything  being 
based  on  a  dollar  for  a  dollar,  an  hour  for  an  hour  and  each  person 
receiving  only  the  exact  voucher  of  his  individual  effort;  this  en- 
tire system,  therefore,  which  compels  one  person  to  exchange 
a  dollar  and  a  half  for  a  dollar  would  be  abolished,  and  no 
one  could  sand-bag  any  other  person  through  the  compulsa- 
tion  of  distress,  misery,  starvation  or  death,  into  giving  some- 
thing  for  nothing. 

Profit  is  another  gentleman  with  another  kind  of  sand-bag.  By 
profit  we  do  not  mean  the  just  increase  which  the  deserving  mer- 
chant adds  upon  the  price  of  his  goods;  for  that  is  merely  a  por- 
tion of  the  labor  cost  of  the  article,  necessary  in  our  present  system 
of  distribution.  But  we  mean  an  increase  of  price  having  nothing 
whatever  to  do  with  the  labor  cost  in  the  article,  either  in  its 
manufacture  or  in  its  sale, — an  increase  of  price  to  the  consumer 
above  and  beyond  every  species  of  human  effort  in  the  article, — 
a  sum  of  money  demanded  from  the  people  for  more  than  was 
ever  paid  to  the  people  in  the  making  and  selling  of  it.  For  in- 
stance, the  man  with  the  sand-bag  has  a  loaf  of  bread;  he  meets 
his  brother  with  the  appetite  and  no  loaf  of  bread,  and  says  to 
him,  "I  see  you  have  an  appetite  and  no  loaf  of  bread." 

"Precisely.    The  two  generally  go  together  nowadays." 

"Well,  do  you  want  a  trade?', 

"What!  the  appetite  for  the  loaf?" 

"No;  I  can't  take  your  appetite,  or  I  should  take  that  from  you 
too.    I  mean  trade  with  me  for  this  loaf  of  bread." 


RENT,    INTEREST,    PROFIT,    AND    TAXATION.  47 

"What  do  you  want?" 

"All  you  have  got.  Have  you  any  birthright,  or  anything  like 
that?" 

"No;  everything  I  ever  had  has  been  gobbled  up  long  ago." 

"You  have  some  relics  upon  your  back,  a  pair  of  summer  shoes, 
I  see,  and  a  ventilation  hat?" 

"Yes;  they  ain't  worth  much,  but  still  they  are  worth  twenty 
times  your  loaf  of  bread." 

"What  is  that  to  you?  You  need  bread;  you  are  starving, — 
(the  sand-club), — you  give  me  the  duds!" 

"Well,  take  them,  but  they  will  make  you  twenty  loaves." 

"Well,  that  is  my  profit  on  the  goods,"  says  the  man  with  the 
sand-club,  and  the  naked  man  walks  away  with  the  loaf,  and  the 
sand-club  walks  away  with  nineteen  loaves  which  it  gave 
nothing  for. 

Apply  this  to  civilization,  and  from  the  gilded  pawn-shop  of 
"capital"  to  the  dingy  pawn-shop  of  poverty,  from  the  thunder- 
ing hissing  and  fussing  huge  manufactory  of  "capital"  to  the 
humble  work-bench  of  poverty,  from  the  glittering  array  and  be- 
wildering display  of  the  mammoth  marts  of  "capital"  to  the  little 
hand  me-down  shop  of  poverty,— all,  everywhere,  is  this  man  of 
profit  with  the  sand-bag,  standing  before  his  hungering  brother 
until  profit,  pro^i,  profit,  piles  up  this  pyramid  of  injustice,  and 
"man's  inhumanity  to  man  makes  countless  thousands  mourn! 

This  twenty  loaves  for  one  would  all  be  done  away  with, — this 
sand-bag  of  poverty,  necessity,  and  its  compelling  conditions, 
wherein  one  must  yield  to  injustice  or  receive  worse, — this  all 
would  be  done  away  with  in  the  collective  proprietorship  of  these 
necessities,  wherein  none  would  have  the  avenues  of  effort  closed 
to  him,  wherein  every  exchange  would  he  based  upon  cost,  and 
cost  would  be  the  only  price  of  a  thing;  and  thus  nationalism 
would  do  away  with  profit,  sand-bagger,  sand-bag,  and  all. 

Taxation  would  also  be  a  dead  institution  under  the  national- 
ization of  our  institutions  and  there  would  be  no  more  tax  col- 
lector. Everything  being  based  upon  cost,  the  mail  service,  the 
railroad  service,  the  telegraph  service,  the  manufacuring  service 
the  agricultural  service,  the  palace  service,  and  every  other  ser- 
vice would  base  its  charges  upon  the  actual  cost  of  each  thing, 
including  all  pertaining  to  its  actual  cost;  and  when  the  pur- 
chaser paid  for  the  article,  he  would  pay  every  real  expense  at- 
tending the  thing,  and  that  would  be  the  end  of  it. 

The  cost  of  the  article's  manufacture,  the  cost  of  every  depart- 
ment engaged  and  pertaining  to  its  manufacture,  the  cost  of  the 
department  engaged  in  its  distribution,  and  all  departments  per- 
taining thereunto,  and  the  pro  rata  of  the  general  national  de- 
partments of  the  entire  nation,  would  be  added  to  each  thing, 
but  no  more.  No  rent,  no  interest,  no  profit,  no  taxes,  or  tribute 
to  law-lordism, — nothing  save  the  actual,  honest  just  amount  of 
labor  in  the  thing,  the  just  amount  which  the  nation  put  into  the 
article,  and  that  just  amount  charged  to  the  consumer.  There 
would  be  then  no  tax-oflBce,  no  tax  collector.  You  would  pay  for 
all  there  was  in  a  thing  when  you  gave  the  national  certificate, 
and  there  would  remain  no  other  charge  against  you  anywhere. 


48  RENT,    INTEREST,    PROFIT,    AND    TAXATION. 

This  would  simplify  the  present  complex  complication  of  things, 
and  the  less  complexity  the  less  the  cost.  Taxation  would  there- 
fore be,  abolished;  for  a  just  exchange  is  not,  and  cannot  be,  taxa- 
tion; and  this  would  be  a  just  exchange,  from  a  pin  to  a  palace. 
If  you  examine  closely,  you  will  find  that  a  community  has  to 
surrender,  in  order  to  pay  a  tax,  double  the  value  of  the  tax  in 
goods.  First,  they  have  to  part  with  the  exact  amount  of  the 
tax  in  goods  to  get  the  money  to  pay  the  tax;  and  second,  they 
have  to  again  part  with  another  exact  amount  of  the  tax  in  goods 
before  the  person  who  performed  the  service  receives  the  goods. 
Thus  before  the  person  receives  the  one  hundred  dollars'  worth 
of  goods  from  the  community,  the  community  has  previously  to 
give  to  some  one  else  one  hundred  dollars' worth  of  goods  in  order 
to  get  the  money  to  pay  the  tax.  They  thus  have  to  yield  two 
hundred  dollars'  worth  of  goods  where  only  one  has  been  earned. 
Now  who  gets  this  other  one  hundred  dollars'  worth  of  goods? 
It  is  certainly  not  the  deserving  government  employee.  This 
other  one  hundred  dollars'  worth  of  goods  goes  to  the  man  with 
the  sand-club,  who  controls  and  runs  the  proportional  prin- 
cipal, or  money,  of  your  country.  Nationalize  your  society,  and 
your  national  certificates,  and  your  national  system  of  basing  your 
public  institutions  upon  cost,  and  not  upon  rent,  interest,  or  profit 
and  you  will  find  that  your  taxes,  or  this  second  payment  for  the 
same  debt,  ceases. 

Thus  common  sense  and  common  justice  would  relieve  us  of 
these  mysterious  misteries,  through  whose  jugglery  of  error 
society  gives  something  for  nothing  and  receives  the  nothing 
portion  of  the  trade. 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

THE   TRIAL,  OF   THE   MILLIONAIRES — A    DREAM. 

I  HAD  a  dream.  The  people  of  the  great  republic  labored  under 
intense  excitement,  and  congregated  in  immense  gatherings,  de- 
nouncing the  millionaires,  railroad  magnates,  telegraph  proprie- 
tors, landlords  of  vast  estates,  and  trusts  of  every  description. 
Orators  pictured  such  personages  as  enemies  of  the  human  race 
and  asserted  that  all  such  should  be  seized,  tried  and  con- 
demned for  high  crimes  and  misdemeanors  against  civilization. 
The  sensation  grew  more  and  more  intense  each  moment,  until 
with  one  accord,  and  as  with  a  single  voice,  the  enraged  populace 
demanded  that  the  culprits  be  at  once  arrested  and  tried  before 
the  court  of  public  opinion,  that  highest  and  mightiest  of  all 
courts  in  all  lands,  and  especially  in  the  great  republic. 

Immediately  a  universal  clamor  arose,  the  voice  of  sixty  mill- 
ions enraged  people.  And  all  official  agents  favorable  to  the  de- 
fendants were  immediately  voted  out,  and  a  complete  new  set 
voted  in,  who  were  unfavorable  to  the  defendants.  And  the  de- 
fendants were  seized  for  trial. 

When  the  day  came,  the  prisoners  were  brought  out  before  the 
concourse, — the  mightiest  jury  ever  assembled, — a  jury  consisting 
of  sixty  millions  of  people  of  all  ages  and  conditions,  and  of  both 
sexes.    The  most  eminent  statesmen,  logicians,  and  thinkers  were 


THE    TRIAL    OP    THE    MILLIONAIRES.  49 

arranged  both  on  the  side  of  the  defendants  and  on   the  side  of 
the  people. 

When  all  wae  ready  for  proceeding,  an  agent  of  the  great  court 
arose,  and  in  a  loud  voice  said: — 

"The  great  court  of  public  opinion  is  now  open  and  ready  for 
business;  the  defendants  before  us  are  the  land,  water,  transpor- 
tation, telegraph,  light,  manufacture,  money,  and  commercial 
millionaires  of  every  species.  Let  the  case  of  the  prosecution  be 
proclaimed." 

Then  a  person  noted  far  and  wide  by  the  title  of  "Reformer" 
arose;  and  with  a  countenance  fierce  and  angry,  and  in  a  voice 
loud  and  denunciatory,  addressed  the  court: — 

"Mighty  court  of  public  opinion,  I  have  caused  to  be  brought 
beforo  you  the  bodies  of  these  well-to-do  millionaires.  I  accuse 
them  of  high  crimes  and  misdemeanors  against  our  civilization. 
There  are  three  counts  in  our  indictment: — 

"1.    That  they  have  subverted  the  liberties  of  the  people. 

"2.  That  they  have  appropriated  and  have  posession  of  the 
natural  and  artificial  necessities  of  the  people. 

"3.  With  conspiracy,  viz.,  that  they  have  cooperated  with  each 
other,  or  entered  into  common  relationship  with  each  other,  known 
as  monopolies  or  trusts,  for  their  mutual  or  individual  enrichment, 
and  the  better  to  carry  out  their  complete  control  of  the  said 
natural  and  artificial  necessities  of  life. 

"Now,  most  high  and  mighty  court,  ye  jury  of  sixty  millions  of 
jurors,  these  are  the  three  distinct  counts  of  our  indictment,  each 
and  all  of  which  I  assert  to  be  high  treason  against  civilization 
and  for  which,  if  found  guilty,  I  demand  their  execution." 

Then  from  a  knot  of  wild,  red  eyed,  billioue-looking  personages 
who  continually  denounce  the  republic,  and  assert  that  the  popu- 
lar ballot  is  a  failure,  and  that  European  monarchies  are  im- 
measureably  superior,  there  came  a  cry  of  "Murder  them!  mur- 
der them!"  and  one  of  these  guillotine-looking  personages  came 
forward  and  said: — 

The  only  good  way  to  reform  a  country  is  the  good  old  way  ot 
our  old  countries  in  the  dark  ages, — brute  force.  Let  us  destroy 
and  murder;  let  us  use  the  torch  and  instruments  of  death. 
Cruelty,  bloodshed,  and  fear  were  the  great  engines  of  ancient 
progress.  Hate  is  a  mighty  spirit  of  progress.  Behold  Europe! 
how  vast  is  her  unfoldment  under  the  evolution  of  war!  Let  us 
have  war, — red,  fiery,  bloody  war!  Let  us  upon  a  pyramid  of 
ruined  homes,  whose  smoking  ashes  shall  only  be  extinguished  in 
human  blood,  establish — establish — a — well,  establish — that  is,  I 
was  going  to  say — let  us  establish  whatever  we  will  establish  upon 
these  bloody,  smoking  ruins." 

Here  the  wild  bloodthirsty-looking  knot  cried,  "Bravo!  bravo!" 
and  several  brandished  diabolical  instruments  of  torture  and 
murder. 

But  the  vast  multitude  seemed  not  to  be  enthused,  and  many 
cried,  "Verily,  we  are  cursed  bad  enough  now,  but  with  such  hate 
and  venom  as  you  bring  us  from  your  old  monarchial  idea  of 
things,  we  would  be  a  thousand  times  worse;"  and  a  great  mur- 
mur arose  against  the  murderous  propositions. 


50  THE    TRIAI^    OP    THE    MILLIONAIRES. 

Then  one  of  the  great  attorneys  for  the  case  of  the  people  aroe© 
and  spake,  saying:  "These  wild  would-be  life-takers  whom  you 
so  justly  murmur  against  are  the  very  best  evidence  we  could 
offer  against  these  millionaires,  the  defendants.  These  wild  men 
who  have  just  spoken  are  the  fruit  and  outgrowth  of  European 
individualism,  or  monopoly.  Injustice  and  cruelty  there  have  pro- 
duced this  their  state  of  mind.  Their  forefathers  have  received 
nothing  but  hate,  fire,  cruelty,  and  murder,  and  they,  poor  things! 
coming  to  this  land,  cannot  know,  think,  speak  of,  or  act  upon 
any  other  than  the  old  plane.  True,  there  are  some  few  of  our 
own  people  among  them,  but  these  are  mistaken  exceptions  of 
the  rule.  If  monopoly  has  made  such  material  as  these  incen- 
diaries of  the  old  countries,  it  will  surely  turn  out  a  crop  of  just 
such  unamiable  people  in  our  own;  in  fact,  it  has  turned  out 
thousands  of  just  such,  and  we  hold  that  our  entire  criminal  ele- 
ment is  the  direct  result  of  the  conditions  built,  fostered,  and 
projected  by  these  millionaires,  the  defendants  now  on  trial. 

"We  claim  that  poverty  is  a  mold  to  shape  society  sickly  and 
criminal;  to  shape  society  ignorant  and  vicious,  to  shape  society 
dangerous  to  both  the  individual  and  to  itself;  that  whatever  de- 
bars man  of  his  rights  inculcates  the  instinct  of  deceit  in  the  vic- 
tim, and  from  this  deceit  the  error  branches  into  every  species  of 
crime.  We  claim  that  this  reign  of  injustice  crushes  the  morality 
of  man,  and  the  virtue  of  woman,  and  flowers,  in  the  noxious  evil 
prostitution.  We  claim  that  intemperance,  and  every  species  of 
sensual  vice,  is  the  outgrowth  of  this  inequality;  that  temper- 
ance is  equipoise  or  equality;  that  this  inharmonious  adjustment 
of  society  and  its  relations  to  its  natural  necessities  is  inequality, 
and  therefore  a  society  thus  constituted  must,  in  the  nature  of 
things,  become  intemperate,  passionate,  violent,  diseased,  and 
prone  to  unbalanced  excitements.  And  we  claim  that  this  pov- 
erty, crime,  prostitution,  intemperance,  and  disease  are  all  the 
creations  of  the  defendants  now  before  this  great  bar,  and  we 
ask  for  their  condemnation  and  punishment  in  accordance  with 
this  the  true  presentation  of  their  guilt." 

As  this  speaker  concluded,  the  vast  jury  became  animated,  and 
many  fell  into  discussion  with  their  neighbors  regarding  his  ar- 
raignment. Some  thought  him  severe,  others  net  severe  enough, 
but  all  thought  him  truthful,  even  to  his  allusion  to  the  wild- 
eyed  bloodites  of  bloodarian  ideas;  one  of  whom  now  arose,  and 
waving  an  odd -looking  thing  which  resembled  a  piece  of  gas- 
pipe,  around  his  head,  and  which  caused  many  timid  people  ta 
scatter  in  every  direction,  said:  "Now,  then,  comrades,  the  peo- 
ple have  spoken;  let  us  get  down  to  the  killing  business.  Erect 
the  guillotine!    Off  with  their  heads!" 

But  a  great  spirit  of  justice  reigned  in  the  breasts  of  the  people 
of  the  great  republic,  and  they  answered  loudly:  "No!  We  will 
hear  the  prisoners  first;  we  will  listen  to  the  other  side." 

"What!" said  the  man  with  the  infernal  machine,  which  the  odd 
looking  gas-pipe  proved  to  be.  "What!  do  you  propose  to  listen 
to  the  other  side?  If  you  listen  to  that, — if  you  look  at  both 
sides, — then  you  will  surely  never  kill  any  one!" 

"It  is  only  falsehood  which  cannot  meet  contradiction, — which 


THE  TRIAL.  OP  THE   MILLIONAIRES.  51 

dare  not  face  its  opposite.  Our  cause  is  truth,  and  therefore  we 
give  justice.    We  will  hear  our  enemy  speak." 

"That  is  not  the  justice  we  gave  in  Europe, — we  killed  aristo- 
crats." 

"And  the  aristocrats  killed  you,  and  the  killing  business  reigned 
supreme.  You  forget  you  are  in  America.  Here  there  is  no  in- 
vidious distinction  between  the  people  and  the  government.  Here 
the  people  and  the  government  are  but  two  terras  meaning  the 
same  thing.  In  your  monarchies  it  is  not  so;  the  people  and  the 
government  are  two  distinct  entities,  separate  nouns,  apart  in 
meaning,  sympathy,  interest,  and  personage.  In  your  European 
monarchies,  you  have  to  revolute  and  overthrow  this  separate 
entity  which  you  call  the  monarchy;  and  when  you  have  accom- 
plished this,  and  established  a  republic,  then  you  have  removed 
the  second  person  from  your  politics;  then  your  people  and  their 
government  become  one,  a  single  entity,  a  unit,  not  a  union  of 
two  things,  but  a  single  person  in  itself.  This  is,  and  constitutes, 
a  republic.  And  if  there  be  aught  wrong  then  in  such  form  of 
poUtical  society,  that  wrong  then  lies  at  the  door  of  the  people. 
Anything  which  teaches  otherwise  hides  the  true  fact  from  the 
people  that  they  are  the  government  and  the  power;  and  what- 
ever hides  from  the  peo]^le  that  they  are  the  government  and  that 
they  are  the  the  power  keeps  the  people  from  acting  in  the  prem- 
ises. The  people  of  America  have  not  yet  arisen  to  a  concious- 
ness  of  the  greatness  of  their  heritage." 

Then  a  great  shout  arose  from  the  people,  saying:  "We  are 
the  people,  and  govern;  we  are  the  power.  Nothing  can  control 
us  without  our  consent;  for  we  are  free  to  act  according  to  our 
understanding;  and  we  therefore  say.  Let  the  defendants  speak." 

Then  from  amid  the  millionaires  and  monopolists  came  forth 
an  attorney, — a  man  celebrated  for  his  mental  efforts,  his  deep 
research,  exhaustive  arguments,  brilliant  presentation  of  ideas 
and  original  genius,  all  of  which  naturally  caused  respect  and 
attention.  Raising  his  hand  as  if  asking  silence,  he  turned  his 
grave  countenance  upon  the  vast  audience,  and  when  it  was 
still,  spake:  "Americans!  the  first  count  in  the  indictment 
of  my  illustrious  clients  asserts  that  they  have  subverted  your 
liberty.  If  that  were  fact,  if  that  were  possible,  and  had  been 
accomplished,  how  comes  it  that  upon  the  mere  assertion  of 
your  will  we  find  them  your  prisoners, — we  find  them  before  you 
in  jeopardy,  and  upon  trial?  They  are  few  in  numbers;  you  con- 
stitute millions;  and  when  the  lesser  controls  the  greater,  it  is 
certainly  only  through  the  acquiscence  of  the  greater. 

"It  would  be  as  absurd  to  claim  that  these  few  millionaires  are 
the  mental  superiors  of  the  collective  wisdom  of  sixty  millions  of 
people,  and  through  this  superior  wisdom  controlled  them,  as  it 
would  be  ridiculous  to  assert  that  a  few  thousand  monopolists  are 
the  physical  superiors  of  sixty  millions. 

"It  is  therefore,  plain  that  you  are  neither  subjected  by  the 
mental  or  physical  force  of  my  clients;  and  since  they  could  only 
subject  you  through  either  one  or  the  other  of  these  two  forces, 
and  neither  exists  in  the  case,  the  charge  that  my  clients  en- 
slave you  is  certainly  groundless,  and  the  first  count  must  there- 


52  THE  TRIAL  OF   THE   MILLIONAIRES. 

fore  fall,  being  contrary  to  reason  and  to  sense. 

"Your  society  is  so  constructed  that  it  produces  two  extremes, 
— millionaires  at  one  end,  and  paupers  at  the  other, — so  con- 
structed that  it  grinds  out  these  two  conditions  of  people  as  an 
ill-constructed  mill  grinds  out  two  conditions  of  meal,— so  con- 
structed that  the  right  of  the  individual  is  sustained  to  an  ab- 
normal degree,  while  the  right  of  the  whole,  the  right  of  the  peo- 
ple as  a  mass,  is  scarcely  recognized.  The  right  of  the  individual 
to  control  land,  water,  air,  light  and  labor  are  everywhere  sup- 
ported, sustained,  and  protected;  but  the  superior  right  of  the 
millions  collectively  to  control  all  of  these,  not  for  the 
benefit  of  individuals,  but  for  the  benefit  of  the  entire 
individuality,  is  totally  overlooked;  disregarded,  and  held 
in  contempt.  Is  it,  therefore,  surprising  that  individuals 
thus  sustained  by  the  collectivity  should  rise  to  abnomal  wealth 
and  the  collectivity  itself  sink  into  poverty?  Surely  it  could  not 
be  otherwise. 

"Your  continual  legislation  in  behalf  of  individualism,  at  the 
expense  of  collectivism,  I  contend,  afflicts  both  extremes,  rich 
and  poor  alike.  A  system  which  encourages,  protects,  and  forces 
the  individual  to  seize  upon  the  natural  resources  and  rights  of 
society  educates,  draws  out,  and  unfolds  the  meaner  qualities, 
grosser  and  material  conditions  of  the  mind,  and  they  who  win  in 
this  race  of  spoliation  must  therefore  do  so  at  the  expense  of  the 
finer  and  nobler  qualities  of  their  being,  and  thus  acquire  mater- 
ial wealth  at  the  cost  of  spiritual  poverty.  And  although  the 
rich  pile  up  their  material  wealth  mountain  high,  they  must 
meet  the  consequences  of  their  error,  and  thus  the  kings  of  your 
unequal  system,  though  exteriorly  clad  in  splendor,  nevertheless 
at  their  core  are  spiritually  rotten. 

"And  thus  I  claim  that  my  clients,  although  they  know  it  not, 
are  the  equal  sufferers  when  the  internal  of  the  situation  is  ex- 
amined. 

"That  the  poor  are  equally  brutalized  through  their  material 
impoverishment  and  vile  environments  equally  as  the  rich  are 
brutalized  through  their  spiritual  impoverishment  is  axiomatic; 
the  infliction  of  the  one  being  internally  and  the  other  externally. 
With  this  I  dismiss  the  first  count,  that  these  millionaires  hold 
you  in  subjection,  claiming  that  the  subjection  is  mutually  im- 
posed by  the  millions,  rich  and  poor,  and  that  all  alike  are  par- 
takers of  its  evil  consequences. 

"The  second  count  in  your  indictment  is,  that  my  clients  have 
taken  posession  of  natural  and  artificial  necessities.  The  first 
count  I  denied;  this,  the  second,  I  acknowledge  to  be  true.  But 
this  is  not  a  crime.  When  and  where  have  you  the  collectivity, 
so  declared  it  to  be?  Have  not  your  entire  legislation,  teaching, 
and  practice  declared  it  to  be  legal  and  legitimate?  True,  a  few 
certain  individual  theorists  and  ahead-of-the-time-ists  have  pro- 
claimed it  a  crime,  but  as  they  have  based  their  charges  more 
upon  individual  denunciation  than  collective  analysis,  the  innate 
justice  of  the  people  has  ever  turned  from  such  in  the  inner  con- 
sciousness of  a  general  guilt.  Yes  I  acknowledge  my  clients,  the 
millionaires,  are  guilty  of  individually  appropriating  the  common 


THE   TRIAL,   OP   THE   MILLIONAIRES.  53 

necessities  of  life,  of  individual  proprietorship,  of  humanity's  nec- 
essaries; but  I  demand,  if  my  clients  are  to  be  jeopardized  for  bo 
doing,  that  all  be  jeopardized;  that  the  jury  itself  step  into  the 
prisoner's  dock,  and  that  we  all  stand  decapitation  in  common,  all 
alike  being  individually  guilty. 

"But  guilty  of  what?  Guilty  of  the  appropiation  of  life's 
necessities!  And  where  and  how  can  the  law  of  self-preservation 
be  demonstrated  a  crime?  Nowhere  and  nohow!  Why,  instead 
of  being  a  crime,  the  appropriation  and  control  of  the  necessities 
of  life  is  a  commendable  virtue,  to  be  honored  and  applauded  by 
all  right-thinking  people. 

"But  why  is  the  charge  then  brought?  But  why  the  evil? 
The  evil  is,  that  the  individual  has  been  compelled  to  control 
the  necessities  of  life, — compelled  to  exercise  personal  proprie- 
torship over  these  things,  because  the  collectivity  has  failed  to 
act  for  the  whole,  of  which  he  is  the  part,  thereby  forcing  him 
to  act  individually  in  an  administration  over  the  necessities  of 
life,  thereby  making  him  a  victim  rather  than  a  culprit  in  the 
offense.  Therefore,  what  he  has  done,  and  has  been  forced  to  do, 
let  the  collectivity  now  do  for  him  and  all,  as  it  should  do,  and  so 
long  has  left  undone.  Let  the  collectivity  assume  its  natural 
position  of  proprietor  of  every  necessity  of  the  whole,  and  no 
longer  force  individual  conflict,  through  a  discordant  condition  of 
the  law  of  self-preservation.  Surely  then,  the  jury  cannot  justly 
consider  as  guilt  or  crime,  on  the  part  of  my  clients,  an  act  the 
performance  of  which  is  a  common  law  of  being, — an  act  forced 
by  the  plaintiffs  themselves  upon  the  defendants,  and  an  act 
which  it  would  be  the  highest  virtue  of  the  plamtiffs  themselves 
to  imitate,  copy,  and  adopt  as  a  line  of  conduct.  And  therefore  I 
conclude,  and  dismiss  this  second  charge,  with  these  words: 
Let  the  people  in  their  collectivism  adopt  and  emulate  the  very 
thing  in  which  they  charge  my  clients  with  crime.  Let  them,  as 
a  whole,  and  acting  for  the  whole,  appropriate,  as  my  clients  have 
done,  the  necessities  of  life." 

By  this  time  the  excitemeat  had  become  intense,  the  very 
breath  of  the  millions  of  the  great  court  became  hushed  and  still 
during  the  silent  process  of  thought.  Then  an  individual  who 
had  spent  ninety -nine  per  cent  of  his  effort  in  attacking  and  de- 
nouncing individuals  and  private  characters  said,  with  a  demoniac 
scowl:  "These  villainous  wretches,  these  thieving  millionaires, 
will  get  off  sure;  they  should  have  had  no  trial.  The  whole  thing 
appears  turning  out  peacefully.  There  is  going  to  be  no  war 
between  us,  and  no  good  can  come  except  by  and  through  war. 
I  shall  have  no  chance  to  distinguish  myself  as  a  patriot,  and  the 
people  will  never  learn  of  the  love  that  is  in  me,— of  the  self-sac- 
rificing spirit  I  am!  I  really  expected  to  be  a  great  leader  of 
troops  and  the  people's  beloved  savior;  but  they  appear  to  be 
getting  along  without  me,  the  great  unknown,  who  thirsts  to 
perish  as  a  gory  martyr,  and  to  be  raised  above  mankind  as  a 
saint  of  political  reform! 

"But  if  these  people  get  to  thinking;  if  they  understand  that 
they  are  the  power;  that  they  need  no  Moses  to  lead  them  out  of 
the  wilderness;  that  there  is  no  great  overshadowing  power  over 


54  THE  TRIAL,  OP  THE   MILLIONAIRES. 

them  save  their  own  ignorance;  that  everything  lies  within  them- 
selves,—then,  alas!  alas!  my  occupation,  my  sanguinary  role  of 
the  great  liberator,  which  I  have  dreamed  of  so  fondly  and  so 
true,  is  at  an  end!    My  occupation  is  gone!" 

And  as  he  said  these  words  it  seemed  as  though  a  mighty  sigh 
of  relief  had  swept  over  the  multitude. 

Then  the  counsel  for  the  millionaires  again  resumed: — 

"I  now  take  up  the  third  and  last  count  in  this  unjust  indict- 
ment, viz.,  that  my  clients,  the  millionaires,  have  co-operated  or 
joined  their  divided  forces,  thus  demonstrating  that  co-operation 
is  superior  to  competition  or  individual  effort.  That  they  have 
evolved  great  strength,  and  acquired  vast  wealth,  through  this 
association  of  their  forces  in  common, — through  this  sinking  of 
their  individualities  into  collectivism, — I  acknowledge.  That 
they  have  thus  learned  that  in  union  there  is  strength;  that  they 
have  and  are  again  combining  their  several  many  co-operations 
into  greater  co-operations  known  as  trusts  for  still  greater  accu- 
mulation of  power,  I  also  acknowledge.  And  I  ask  you,  the  peo- 
ple of  this  great  republic,  wherein  lies  the  error, — wherein  lies 
the  crime?  Is  not  this  the  unfoldment  by  the  individual  of  the 
greatest  of  social  truths? — the  application  of  the  very  principle 
upon  which  the  universe  itself  is  founded,  through  which  it  is 
sustained  and  endures?  Is  not  the  principle  of  hell  disunion, 
and  the  principle  of  heaven  union?  the  first,  conflict,  the  second, 
order?  and  are  not  my  clients  but  the  rude  pioneers  of  this  great 
truth?  Let  envy,  malice,  and  personalism  say  what  it  may!  Is 
not  the  co-operation  of  parts  known  as  monopolies  and  trusts  but 
the  nebular  formations  of  the  coming  great  planet  of  national 
co-operation?  True,  my  clients'  co-operation  hurts  and  inflicts 
the  people.  When  and  where  does  not  truth  hurt  and  pain  who- 
ever lives  contrary  to  it?  You,  the  people,  are  living  contrary  to 
co-operation,  contrary  to  its  truth;  and  wherever  competition 
or  individualism  meets  and  faces  the  co-operation  of  my  clients, 
it  suffers  defeat  and  pain.  Through  this  defeat  and  pain  the  peo- 
ple are  awakening  to  a  realization i)f  the  error  of  individualism, 
or  competition;  and  thus  society  is  forced  as  well  as  educated 
into  a  recognition  of  the  fundamental  principle  of  life. 

"Again,  I  say,  let  the  people,  instead  of  attaching  conflict  and 
war  upon  my  innocent  and  most  praiseworthy  clients,  the  mil- 
lionaires, let  them  emulate  their  processes  and  adopt  their  admir- 
rable  systems.  The  same  co-operation  through  which  sixty 
viillioyiaires  enrich  themselves  will  certainly  enrich  sixty  mil- 
lions of  people  when  adopted.  And  I  claim  that  my  clients  are 
not  the  evil-doers,  as  this  third  and  last  count  would  proclaim, 
but  that  they  are  benefactors  and  educators  instead;  that  they 
are  but  the  agents  of  social  evolution,  and  receive  the  full  injury 
and  benefit  of  every  truth  and  error  unfolded;  that  my  clients, 
the  millionaires,  have  faults,  have  crimes  to  answer  for,  as  all 
have  crimes  to  answer  for,  I  acknowledge;  and  that  they  have 
truths,  as  all  men  have  truths,  I  have  here  demonstrated.  I  now 
move  their  discharge,  their  vindication,  and  their  liberty,  and 
that  they  be  invited  to  enter  the  great  general  co-operation  of  the 
whole,  which  I  know  you  are  about  to  establish,  and  of  which,  I 


THE   TRIAL   OP   THE    MILLIONAIRES.  OD 

am  sure,  they  will  become  valuable  adjuncts." 

As  these  words  were  spoken  the  vast  jury  arose,  and  with  one 
mighty  voice,  which  shook  the  very  mountains  in  the  distance 
they  proclaimed: — 

"We  give  the  prisoners  and  ourselves  freedom!  We  give  each 
and  all  freedom!  We  co-operate,  we  nationalize  the  necessities 
of  life  and  civilization,  and  henceforth  none  shall  be  pauper,  and 
all  shall  be  the  countless  millionaire.'' 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

woman's  relation  to  nationalism. 

The  feminine  principle  of  existence  is  represented  everywhere 
by  the  moral,  as  the  masculine  is  represented  everywhere  by  the 
intellectual.  The  feminine  conserves  the  moral,  the  masculine 
the  intellectual.  Our  civilization  to-day  is  almost  exclusively 
masculine,  almost  wholly  intellectual,  and  therefore  almost  wholly 
immoral.  This  immorality  is  the  result  of  the  subversion  of  the 
feminine,  or  moral,  factor  of  existance,  and  its  subversion  must 
necessarily  end  in  inequality  or  in  confusion,  from  dome  to  found- 
ation of  the  society,  thus  constructed.  To  have  a  perfect  society, 
its  base  must  be  equality, — equality  in  all  things.  And  to 
have  that,  you  must  have  equality  in  the  beginning,— an  equal 
recognition,  morally  and  intellectually,  of  these  two  primal 
factors  of  life.  You  must  be  intelligent  and  loving  enough  to 
recognize  these  two  factors  equally,  and  extend  to  them  equal 
support,  place,  and  power.  Then  when  there  is  no  prepond- 
erance, but  an  equal  proportion  of  ivovian  and  man  in  your 
religious,  political,  and  social  relations,  there  will  be  a  balance, 
an  equilibrium,  and  rest, — a  reign  of  peace  and  of  unparalleled 
harmony,  which  will  bring  society  very  quickly  to  its  successful 
status. 

Whenever  a  moral  proposition  is  proposed  for  society  to  adopt  as 
law,  that  proposition  is  the  feminine  principle  moving  in 
politics;  whenever  the  masculine  becomes  intelligent  enough,  it 
perceives  and  recognizes  this  moral  proposition,  this  feminine  in 
politics,  and  adopts  it  as  law.  That  the  masculine  is  becoming 
intelligent  enough  to  appereciate  the  moral,  or  the  feminine,  in 
politics,  the  recognition  of  the  moral  truths  of  national  co-oper- 
ation by  the  men  of  America  plainly  demonstrates. 

Everywhere,  then,  throughout  the  land  women  should  awaken 
to  this,  her  first  grand  entree  as  a  principle  into  goverment. 

National  co-operation  is  purely  moral  in  its  idea;  iov  all  of 
justice  is  of  morality,  and  all  of  morality  is  of  love,  and  all  of  love 
is  of  the  feminine  principle,    whether  it  be  in  man  or   in  woman. 

The  war,  conflict,  and  competition  of  nations  and  indviduals, 
the  suffering,  misery,  and  inhumanity  everywhere  around  us, 
is  resolved  into  that  one  single  destructive  state  of  mind  designa- 
ted as  hate.  Hate  is  that  state  or  condition  of  mind  necessary  to 
outrage,  cruelty,  and  injustice;  and  there  can  be  no  merit  reward- 
ed, no  truth  recognized,  no  virtue  respected,  by  a  mind  under  the 
domination  of  hate.  Hence  hate  is  the  very  antithesis  of  justice, 
and  when  we  come  to  analize  hate,  and  go  down  deep  into  causa- 


56  WOMAN'S   RELATION   TO    NATIONALISM. 

ioDB,  we  find  that  hate  is  a  state  of  mind  wherein  the  positive  and 
negative  forces  are  unequal,  or  in  other  words,  wherein  the  mas- 
culine and  feminine  principles  are  unproportional,  and  that  hate, 
the  resultant  of  this  inequality,  is  the  seed  or  cause  of  disease 
or  disorder,  producing  all  the  various  forms  of  evils  which  man 
and  earth  are  heir  to. 

The  full  rights  of  woman  can  only  be  recognized  in  a  state  of 
society  in  whose  administration  the  moral  has  become  as  equal  a 
factor  as  the  intellectual,  or  in  other  words,  where  love  is  recog- 
nized as  equal  to  wisdom. 

Wisdom,  or  comprehension  on  the  crude  plane  of  individualism, 
fails  to  preceive  the  love  principle,  and  merely  recognizes  tihe  in- 
tellectual itself.  The  result  of  this  one-sided  vision,  this  partial 
or  half  illumination  of  the  ego,  evolves  a  one-sided  civilization, 
whose  force  is  expended  in  much  intellectuality,  unbalanced  by 
a  necessary  degree  of  moral  sentiment,  and  results  in  construct- 
ing a  civilization  of  almost  physical  or  masculine  nature,  whose 
history  is  a  concatenation  of  passion,  violence,  and  conflict,  whose 
reformers  even  propose  destruction  invarably  as  remedy  for  error, 
and  deem  war  as  a  panacea,  and  who  are  ever  ready  to  assert  that 
destruction  must  precede  construction;  that  we  must  destroy  the 
woman  to  bring  forth  the  child.  These  destructionists  imagine 
themselves  to  be  anarchists,  and  so  they  are  termed  by  the  world, 
but  they  are  not  anarchists,  but  destructionists.  Anarchy,  or 
no  government,  hieans  self-control;  self-control  is  not  attainable 
by  any  passionate  process  whatever;  itevolutes  from  government, 
and  there  must  be  government  during  its  evolution  from  govern- 
ment. You  can't  make  the  boy  by  killing  the  man,  the  fruit  by  kill- 
ing the  tree,  the  no  government  by  killing  the  government.  You 
must  develop  the  one  from  the  other,  and  you  must  comprehend  the 
process  of  that  development.  Nationalism,  or  natonial  co-operation, 
is  that  process. 

Everywhere  in  our  civilization  we  find  much  masculine  ingenu- 
ity, carefully  arranging  conditions,  circumstance,  and  situations  to 
success  special  designs,  while  but  seldom  you  meet  with  feminine 
sentiment  or  moral  aspiration  existing  hand  in  hand  with  this 
intellecual  effort.  The  masculine  preponderates  to  such  an  extent 
in  our  governing  ideas  that  it  almost  over  whelms  and  crushes  out 
the  feminine  in  all,  save  the  most  primal  relation  of  the  dual  prin- 
ciples. It  recognizes  the  feminine  to  bring  forth  a  race,  but  re- 
fuses to  recognize  it  or  allow  it  to  bring  forth  a  condition  for  the 
happiness  of  the  race, — refuses  to  accept  what  the  feminine  alone 
can  give,  moral  principle,  and  proceeds  to  build  the  structure 
of  OUT  political  family  upon  a  purely  masculine  basis, — a  basis 
which  consequently  presents  a  scene  of  continual  competition,  of 
continual  destruction,  desolation,  and  untimely  death.  Every- 
where you  find  the  masculine  denunciator,  or  the  tearer-down; 
seldom  you  find  the  feminine,  or  constructive,  principle.  Vo- 
ciferous applause  greets  the  former,  while  shrugs  and  silence 
greet  the  latter.  This  masculine  civilization  cannot  present  any 
other  phase  than  its  present  one  of  effort  devoid  of  feeling,  of  ob- 
ject devoid  of  morality,  of  reason  devoid  of  affection, — a  thing  all 
head  and  no  heart.    It  cannot  give  a  state  of   affairs  beyond  or 


woman's  relation  to  nationalism,  57 

above  its  present  insanity-mill,  wherein  each  man's  hand  is  raised 
against  his  brother  in  life  long  conflict,  whose  unholy  strife  is 
innocently  termed  "buisness,"  "shrewdness,"  "smartness,"  and 
"brains." 

Nol  this  masculine  civilization  cannot  present  any  other  phase 
until  its  recognition  of  the  love  principle  in  the  construction  of 
its  society, — a  recognition  which  demands  happiness  as  well  as 
greatness, — a  recognition  that  happiness  can  only  be  secured 
through  love,  as  greatness  is  secured  through  justice, — a  recogni- 
tion that  woman  is  as  necessary  to  the  administration  of  a  govern- 
ment as  she  is  to  the  administration  of  a  family,  and  that  society 
can  nowhere  endure,  but  must  lose  itself,  in  the  absence  of  her 
love.  Woman  ennobles  all  that  she  comes  in  contact  with,  and 
would  ennoble  governments. 

Nationalism  is  the  feminine  principle  in  politics;  it  is  intuit- 
ion marching  with  reason;  it  is  love  where  it  ever  should  be, — by 
the  side  of  wisdom.  In  a  word,  it  is  the  woman  and  the  man, — 
dual  expressions  of  the  infinite,  whose  divison  is  darkness,  whose 
union  is  life. 

Nationalism  then  presents  the  political  atmosphere  of  woman. 
Her  principle  brought  it  into  existence, — i.  e.,  love  for  the  race. 
Her  principle  will  carry  it  forward.  In  it  woman  finds  her  em- 
bryo dreams  of  what  should  be,  and  turns  to  it  from  what  her 
spirit  for  ages  hath  proclaimed  should  not  be.  Her  desires  for 
the  grand,  beautiful,  sublime,  poetic,  and  harmonious  can  only 
be  realized  in  the  unfoldment  of  both  the  powers  of  the  race, — 
powers  now  divided  and  restrained,— powers,  however,  which 
under  national  co-operation  would  flow  forth  in  one  united,  ir- 
resistible stream.  The  women  of  our  country,  therefore,  must 
put  their  will  and  aspiration  in  this  sacred  cause.  It  is  woman's 
opportunity,  and  both  sexes'  full  future, — a  future  which  estab- 
lishes truths  the  fructifying  powers  of  which  unfold  an  evolution 
which  shall  yield  conditions  of  more  glorious  nature  than  stars 
have  witnessed  or  mind  has  yet  dreamed.  We  have  heard  it 
put  forth  that  woman's  ideas  of  government  should  not  be  joined 
to  men's  ideas  of  government,  or  government  be  based  upon  the 
ideas  of  both;  that  woman  is  unfitted  to  partake  of  many  depart- 
ments of  our  present  "he"  government;  that  she  is  unfitted  to  go 
around  collecting  "license"  from  the  dens  and  dives;  that  she  is  un- 
fitted to  fight  in  war;  unfitted  to  carry  a  killing-machine.  Unfitted 
for  war?  Heaven  forbid  her  to  be!  War!  the  thing  which  puts  one 
man  above  another;  thecreator  of  rank;  theturnerof  men  into  aut- 
tomatons;th6  maker  of  the  man  on  horseback  and  the  millions  on 
foot;  the  soul,  seed,  father,  and  mother  of  tyranny, — this  is  war, 
the  child  of  ignorance  and  hate.  And  war  is  the  direct  result 
of  this  over-preponderance  of  the  masculine,  and  this  unrelative 
representation  of  the  feminine  in  each  and  every  department  of 
the  social  structure.  True,  you  may  say,  there  are  departments, 
that  men  now  occupy  which  are  unfitted  for  her,  and  beneath 
her.  Well!  if  there  be  such  departments,  then  they  are  also 
unfitted  for  men;  for  man  should  not  be  where  woman  cannot  be; 
they  should  be  ever  side  by  side,  equal  in  all  things,  dependent  in 
none.  And  every  thing  contrary  to  these  truths  shall  yet  go  down 
before  the  endless  beat  of  thought  upon  the  shores  of  error. 


58  THE   SOCIAL   EVIL. 

CHAPTER  XX. 

THE  SOCIAL   EVIL. 

"The  social  evil!"  What  a  soft  sentence,  designating  with 
soft  phrase  this  hideous  ulcer  upon  the  fair  front  of  humanity! 
This  hideous  ulcer,  fixed  there  by  the  hate  and  avarice  of  indiv- 
idual ignorance!    This  seal  of  death  upon  civilization! 

Ignorant  individualism!  go  build  up  laws  until  your  earth  of 
jurisprudence  mount  up  to  the  sun,  and  you  will  still  find  that 
the  volcano  you  have  created  beneath  will  erupt,  and  vomit  up 
its  desolation.  You  cannot  suppress  the  prostitution  overwhelm- 
ing you, — suppress  that  which  you  have  planted,  nourished,  and 
fed  in  the  breast  of  poor  diseased  society. 

Think  of  it!  Woman,  the  fountain  of  manhood,  being  molded, 
taught,  pressed  into  sale, — into  the  sale  of  her  body  to  the  lust  of 
individualistic  sense! 

Individualistic  lust  demands  that  she  sell  herself  that  she  may 
live;  points  to  the  wretched  hovel,  squalid,  filthy,  and  repulsive, — 
points  to  rags  and  wretchedness, — points  to  an  empty  cupboard 
and  a  breadless  table, — points  to  endless,  unrequited  toil, — 
points  to  the  hell  scenes  of  spoliated  labor,  with  all  their  crush- 
ing associations, — points  to  a  hideousness  indescribable;  for  the 
voices  who  have  endured  it  are  hushed  and  incapable  of  speech, 
— and  cries  to  the  woman  of  America:  "Take  this, — ay  worse, — 
or  sell  your  bodies!" 

Look  at  the  condition  wherein  individualistic  control  of  indus- 
try has  placed  women.  Behold  her  in  the  coarse  factories,  under 
the  control  of  masculine  avarice,  gluttony,  and  sensualism.  Her 
fine  and  delicate  nature,  ruled  and  employed  by  the  grossest  and 
vilest  of  passions,  offering  misery  for  her  industry,  abundance 
and  pleasure  for  her  idleness.  Vice — putting  a  premium  upon 
her  destruction,  and  a  discount  upon  her  preservation — moulding 
her,  educating  her,  forcing  her  into  houses  of  bawd.  And  then 
you  talk  of  the  suppression  of  the  social  evil!  Look  to  the  sup- 
pression of  your  individual  lusts  in  the  establishment  of  your 
collective  virtues. 

The  bawd-house  is  the  companion  of  the  penitentiary.  This 
inhumanity  of  personal  proprietorship  over  man  finds  a  counter- 
part in  its  personal  proprietorship  over  woman.  Crime  is  but 
disorde  r,  and  injustice  is  the  fountain  of  your  crime.  Establish 
justice,y  and  disorder  or  crime  dissipates,  as  the  dews  of  night 
give  wa  i  beneath  the  sun.  Give  woman  justice!  Give  her  land, 
water,  ar,  light,  science,  and  art,  and  yoiir  prostitution  ends;  for 
these  things,  which  are  hers,  she  has  not;  for  individualism  has 
robbed  and  debauched  her  equally  as  it  has  robbed  and  de- 
bauched man.  Raise  her  beyond  the  power  of  individualism; 
give  her  her  rights.  Place  her  upon  the  plaine  of  equality,  by 
placing  the  necessities  of  her  being  above  the  control  of  avarice, 
and  the  future  mothers  and  sisters  and  daughters  of  the  race  will 
be  no  more  driven,  tutored,  forced,  and  crushed  into  prostitution. 

The  roots  of  the  social  evil  are  deep  down  in  the  immoral  and 
unjust  rules  governing  industry.  This  injustice  is  the  source  of 
crime,    and    crime    is    hereditary.    The    criminal    treatment  of 


THE  SOCIAL  EVIL.  59 

women  causes  women  to  give  birth  to  criminals.  Bring  about  a 
just  system  of  society,  and  women  will  give  birth  to  just  men  and 
virtuous  women.  Injustice  entails  itself.  Suppress  the  entail- 
ment by  establishing  equality  of  all  men  and  all  women  in  the 
right  of  life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness.  This  can  only 
be  done  through  a  collective  proprietorship  in  the  necessities  of 
their  being.  This  is  nationalism  pure  and  simple,  and  the  only 
remedy  for  the  social  evil. 

Mothers  of  the  nation,  your  attention!  Divine  womanhood, 
whose  pure  picture  every  boy  carries  in  his  heart  from  the  tirst 
infant  cry  to  his  last  moment,  when  the  eyes  glaze  and  lose  their 
light,  you,  glorified  and  deified  in  the  cherished  recollections  of  us 
all,  listen!  Look  upon  the  little  one  slumbering  in  your  arms; 
think,  what  shall  be  its  future?  Is  it  a  girl?  Then  look  well  to 
the  elevation  of  society's  moral  tone,  for  therein  lies  her  safety. 
Is  it  a  boy?  Then  look  well  to  the  improvement  of  society's 
relational  institutions;  for  therein  lies  his  safety.  A  virtuous 
girl  is  not  safe  among  dishonest  men,  and  her  honest  brother  is  in 
danger.  The  elevation  of  society  is  the  duty  you,  dear  mother, 
owe  to  your  dear  child.  Man  is  but  a  series  of  expressions  of  the 
universal  life  through  conditions,  and  these  conditions  form  the 
expression  and  is  thy  child.  Look  well  to  it,  dear  mother;  for  to 
your  love  I  commend  these  pages. 

The  best  alas  !  have  many  foes, 

And  yet  one  single  friend 
Proves  ever  true,  through  all  in  all, — 

Proves  faithful  to  the  end ; 
Who'd  rather  weep  that  we  should  smile. 

Who'd  starve  that  we  should  feast ; 
Whose  happiness  springs  from  oor  own. 

Decreased  as  it's  decreased. 

And  I  had  once  just  such  a  friend ; 

I  feel  that  even  now 
She's  hovering  o'er  this  busy  page, 

Laving  this  busy  brow ; 
Passing  her  hand  along  my  hair, 

Pressing  her  kiss  divine, 
Bending  o'er  her  dreaming  boy, — 

This  angel  mother  mine. 

Mothers!  if  your  boys  and  girls  now  growing  up,  full  of  love» 
hope,  and  sweet  youth's  brightest  dreams,  if  they  cannot  enter 
the  sacred  relations  of  man  and  wife,  and  raise  children,  who  can 
be  decently  clad,  decently  fed,  decently  housed,  decently  educated, 
if  but  only  one  out  of  a  thousand  of  such  can  have  these  things, 
and  the  remainder  are  to  be  forced  into  hovels,  dens  of  vice,  half- 
fed,  half  clothed,  half  educated,  criminalized,  brutalized,  and  de- 
based, then  the  sooner  this  miserable  civilization  goes  the  way  of 
its  predecessors  the  better.  If  we  are  to  have  cities  of  tenement 
(holes)  houses,  crowded  as  though  the  earth  was  not  large  enough 
stretching  out  over  the  land  their  low,  fetid,  disease-breeding 
scenes,  with  here  and  there  tall  buildings  shooting  up  into  the 
air  like  poisonous  growths  in  dark  places, — if  we  cannot  do  better 
than  this;  if  we  cannot  have  a  better  republic  than  this;  if  this 
civilization  is  going  to  be  run  merely  for  the  life  of  a  few,  and 


60  THE   SOCIAL,   EVIL. 

the  death  of  the  many;  if  decent  girls  and  honest  boys  are  to  be 
treated  as  soulless  things,  as  machines,  as  hinds, — then  some 
inspired  youth,  stung  by  the  devilish  lash,  writhing  beneath  its 
chains,  will  fire  these  Ephesian  domes, — the  cleansing  flames  will 
spread  until  the  red  tongues  of  conflagration  light  up  and  illume 
these  fanes  and  minarets  of  theft,  and  capital's  misguided  rule 
falls  amid  the  crimson  terrors  of  revolt  and  revolution!     . 

CHAPTER  XXI. 

ABOLITION    OF    THE     SALOON. 

A  SOCIETY  whose  social  economy  is  based  upon  unjust  institut- 
ions must  evolve  immoral  conditions.  Injustice  is  the  mother 
of  vice,  as  justice  is  the  parent  of  virtue.  A  society  whose  mem- 
bers can  scarcely  survive,  let  alone  flourish,  where  they  stand  up 
to  the  strict  letter  of  the  truth;  who  have  to  become  partakers  iu 
the  general  errors,  more  or  less,  or  find  themselves  driven  to  the 
direst  necessities,  to  the  extremes  of  hardship;  whose  goodness 
receives  but  pillage  in  return; — such  a  society  places  a  premium 
on  vice,  a  ban  upon  virtue,  and  molds  and  compels  its  citizens  to 
emulate  the  surrounding  conditions,  to  live,  to  rise,  and  to  rule 
through  them.  Thus  the  citizen's  taste  for  nobler  and  purer 
associations  deteriorates,  and  is  gradually  drawn  towards  rela- 
tions congenial  to  the  lower  order  of  things  around  him, — con- 
genial to  the  vitiated  scale  of  morals  governing  his  trade,  science, 
and  labor.  Thus  he  cannot  bear  to  enter  associations  wherein  he 
listens  to  principles  which  he  feels  to  be  contrary  to  his  society 
interests.  Truth  jars  upon  his  ear,  and  purity  seems  puerility. 
He  feels  the  full  antagonism  of  the  base,  false,  and  unjust 
principles  which  govern  those  around  him  and  which  gov- 
ern him.  Whenever  he  enters  a  virtuous  and  moral  institu- 
tion, he  intuitively  concludes  that  such  is  no  place  for 
him;  that  were  he  to  become  inoculated  with  its  ideas  and 
its  instincts,  he  would  become  impracticable,  become  unfit 
for  success,  unfit  for  the  world— a  visionary!  He  even  deplores 
the  amount  of  virtue  within  him,  and  declares  that  if  it  were 
not  for  it  he  would  succeed  much  better.  So  he  is  careful,  and 
avoids  the  accumulation  of  any  greater  amount  than  he  deems 
himself  inflicted  with  already;  and  all  places  inculcating  these  to 
him  unprofitable  thoughts,  are  avoided.  "So  and  so  were  virtu- 
ous," he  says,  "and  what  did  they  make  by  it?  See  what  the 
honest,  industrious  toiler  receives  for  his  virtue?  Behold  injust- 
ice everywhere!  Don't  talk  to  me  of  virtue;  but  tell  me  how  I 
am  going  to  make  my  living!  I  do  not  propose  to  do  right  and 
live  in  a  den,  in  rags  and  penury,  for  pay.  I  am  going  to  do  as 
they  all  do,— get  up,— get  up  above  those  who  do  right;  live  fine 
and  enjoy  myself.  I  will  keep  out  of  jail!  O  yes!  it  is  not  that 
kind  who  get  up,  nor  that  way.  Get  up  by  your  wits;  get  up  by 
your  standing  in  with  society,  and  winning  at  the  society  game, 
get  up  by  examining  into  and  understanding  this  whole  system 
governing  the  people.  Crush  out  the  white  spark  of  truth  at 
your  center,  hoist  the  black  flag,  join  the  associations,  and 
become  a  reputable  and  honored  citizen.    Yes!  none  of  your  vis- 


ABOLITION    OF    THE   SALOON.  61 

ionary  castles-in-the-air  goodness  for  me.  That  may  do  for  saints; 
but  saints  don't  thrive  the  way  we  run  things  nowadays!" 

This  is  the  soliloquy  of  the  looking-forward  young  man,  and 
this  is  the  soliloquy  welling  up  from  this  sea  of  unjust  and  dis- 
honest societary  conditions  building  up  and  sustaining  their  con- 
comitant immoral  institutions,  springing  up  like  noxious,  poison 
growths  around  us.  In  such  immoral  institutions  the  looking- 
forward  young  man  finds  no  purity  or  morality  to  endanger  his 
being  inoculated  by  truth,  and  thereby  his  success  endangered. 
In  such  he  takes  on  the  thing  he  is  looking  for,  i.  e.,  the  con- 
tempt of  tenderness  and  feeling;  the  derision  of  the  finer  instinct 
of  being.  In  such  he  finds  amusements  which  dull  and  put  to 
sleep  the  unprofitable  virtue  he  complains  of;  and  in  such 
relations  finds  all  those  attractions  congenial  to  the  "practicable" 
side  of  his  life,  which  do  not  unfit  or  unman  him  for  the  strife. 
The  saloon,  the  saloon  is  the  atmosphere!  Sensuality  and  lasciv- 
ualityl  in  this  there  is  a  responsive  attraction,  a  relaxation  har- 
monions  to  the  deadly  inharmony  of  his  "practicability."  And 
so  he  seeks  the  saloon.  If  he  fails  in  the  field  he  has  looked 
ahead  to,  here  in  the  saloon  is  the  balm  for  his  broken  and  dis- 
appointed hopes,  broken  and  disappointed  life,^broken  in  the 
struggle  which  breaks  and  destroys  the  buds  of  human  promise 
as  the  north  blasts  and  the  frosts.  Here  in  the  saloon  which 
sprang  into  life  out  of  the  unjust  social  conditions  which  wrecked 
him  he  now  proposes  to  finish  the  job.  Here  in  this  temple  of 
hate  and  murder  he  proposes  to  immolate  the  remnants  of  his 
lost  manhood;  here  he  quafl's  the  nectar  of  death,  and  pours  into 
his  bowels  the  potion  of  ruin.  Ha,  ha!  what  does  he  care?  there 
is  nothing  in  life  for  him.  He  says:  "I  went  into  the  game;  T 
did  my  best, — but  lost,  the  same  as  millions!  Everybody  canH 
xvin!"  He  never  dreamed  that  in  a  just  condition  of  society — 
poor  fellow! — everybody  can  win,  and  would  win.  And  he  drinks, 
and  drinks,  and  drinks!  And  the  saloon  thrives,  and  thrives,  and 
thrives!  Thrives  as  the  dark  crawling  things  thrive  in  the  dark 
night;  thrives  as  death  thrives  when  pestilence  is  in  the  air. 

Then  when  the  merchant  finds  that  the  contaminated  people 
will  not  purchase  his  wares,  that  his  legitimate  business  is  a 
failure,  he  casts  his  eyes  around  upon  the  situation  and  discov- 
ers that  although  legitimate  business  is  dull,  illegitimate  busi- 
ness is  flourishing;  that  the  taste  of  the  public  is  inclined,  under 
the  ruling  order  of  things,  to  support  that  which  is  vicious;  he 
sees  the  saloon  flourishing  where  the  grocer,  the  baker,  the 
tailor,  and  hatter  ought  to  be  thriving.  He  finds  youth  throng- 
ing the  saloon.  He  dislikes  the  business;  but  it  is  "business," 
and  he,  too,  must  have  no  idle  qualms  of  conscience.  Conscience 
and  "competition"  make  poor  bed-fellows;  conscience  finds  no 
open  door  in  an  unjust  society  in  a  state  of  piracy,  where  the  just 
go  to  the  wall.  He  must  do  as  everybody,  he  says,  is  forced  to  do. 
So  he  starts  a  saloon,  and  he  finds  it  pays;  for  this  is  a  "saloon" 
condition  of  affairs.  Then  a  toiler  who  has  struggled  in  the 
unjust  relationship  of  things  grows  weary  of  the  struggle.  He, 
too,  finds  that  society's  condition  somehow  tempers  itself  to  the 
saloon.    Here  he,  too,  plants  his  effort.    It  did  not  pay  to  benefit 


62  ABOLITION   OP  THE  SALOON. 

Bociety  by  producing  its  wealth;  but  by  the  sigUB  of  things  it. 
pays  to  poison  it.  He  starts  a  saloon,  and  society  fills  it.  Then 
a  poor  widow  with  children  to  support,— what  shall  she  do? 
Make  shirts, — at  a  loaf  of  bread  a  dozen?  O  individual  proprie- 
torship of  industry,  what  an  angel  you  arel  Her  womanly 
instincts  are  against  it,  and  often  in  secret  ber  heart  bleeds  at 
her  trade,  but  she  must, — must! — or  she  must  make  shirts  for  a 
loaf  a  dozen!  She  keeps  a  saloon, — a  saloon  away  back  in  the 
alleys,  out  of  sight  of  the  great  arteries;  and  to  her  place  go  the 
little  children  with  the  cans,  and  into  those  homes  flows  the  fluid 
of  hell.  The  child  tastes!  first  dislikes;  then  accustoms;  then 
desires;  grows  up, — up  drinking;  and  a  family  comes  with  here 
and  there  a  boy  with  a  hereditary  yearning  for  the  saloon, — for 
the  death. 

And  so  the  saloons  spring  up  here,  there,  everywhere!  like 
those  fungi,  dangerous  things  of  quick  growth  in  the  shade;  for 
society  is  in  the  shade, — the  deep  shade  of  error. 

And  good  men  go  around  and  strive  to  close  the  saloons, — bless 
them!  Strive  thus  to  save  humanity!  Strive  to  build  a  fire 
within  water!  Better  try  to  send  Niagara's  flood  upward  and 
reverse  the  law  of  gravity,  No!  the  law  is  inexorable!  The  flood 
of  ruin  is  here,  and  over  and  down  it  must  go,  so  long  as  the  flood 
continues  flowing.  Go  up  to  the  springs  there,  friends,  up  from 
whence  comes  this  flood  of  terror,  of  ruined  hopes,  of  ruined  men, 
women  and  children,  of  ruined  countries.  Turn,  turn  the  waters 
thei'e  aside  which  feed  this  holocaust  of  misery!  Put  an  end  there 
to  our  unjust  and  immoral  basis  of  society,  which  blunts  and 
kills  the  true  instincts  of  our  fellow-men,  and  draws  them,  as 
gravity  draws  downward,  into  this  stream  of  drink,  of  immoral 
and  impure  associations.  Elevate  society  by  elevating  its  insti- 
tutions into  condition  whereby  the  brute  in  man  is  destroyed, 
and  the  angel  strengthened;  whereby  his  noble  efforts  are  ap- 
preciated, honored,  called  forth;  whereby  he  shall  be  drawn  to 
pure  associations;  whereby  he  shall  find  success  in  virtue  and 
triumph  in  truth;  whereby  he  and  everyone  can  ivin,  and  none 
meet  disaster;  where  each  and  all  will  be  of  one  family,  in  one 
national  co-operative  circle;  where  not  a  "groggery"  can  exist,  no 
more  than  a  night  thing  in  the  sunlight;  where  just  recompensed 
effort  would  have  its  gardens  of  refined  pleasures  and  its  halls  of 
esthetic  relaxations,  unto  whose  associations  men  would  be  drawn 
by  the  harmony  of  its  scenes,  with  the  moral  and  just  relations 
of  their  co-operative  occupations  and  professions.  In  such  con- 
ditions the  saloon  would  pass  away,  and  its  orgies  sink  into  the 
silence.  The  youth  of  our  country  would  enter  into  pure  festivi- 
ties, and  this  terrible — oh,  terrible! — picture  of  ruined  templea 
would  touch  UB  with  pity  no  more. 


THE   ABOLITION    OF    POLITICAL,   COKKUPTION.  63 

CHAPTER    XXII. 

THE  ABOLITION  OF  POLIWCAL   CORRUPTION. 

Our  present  republic  is  much  more  monarchial  in  its  make-up 
than  republican.  Its  President  is  an  entirely  superfluous  append- 
age, simply  a  temporary  limited  monarch,  whose  office  could  be 
as  fully  attended  toby  therchairman  of  the  House  of  C!ongres8. 
This  would  place  the  position  closer  to  the  ballot,  and  oftener 
before  the  judgment  of  the  people.  Our  House  of  Congress 
answers  to  the  House  of  Commons  in  England,  and  our  Senate  is 
a  complete  correspondent  to  its  House  of  Peers.  We  call  it  a 
Senate  after  the  Roman  law-making  body, — a  body  whose  history 
contains  nothing  to  merit  the  preservation  of  its  name.  This  so- 
called  Senate  is  merely  our  house  of  American  lords,  chiefly 
composed  of  millionaires;  for  no  one  can  get  to  be  a  national 
senator  hardly  who  is  not  a  millionaire;  it  is  too  expensive, 
scarcely  costing  less  than  from  fifty  thousand  to  one  hundred 
thousand  dollars. 

These  gentlemen  with  the  Roman  nomenclature  represent  ihe 
ruling  individualities  of  our  land.  They  are  really  kings,  under 
our  present  system  of  society,  and  exercise  kingly  power.  They 
are  not  elected  by  the  people;  no  plebeian  vote  besmirches  their 
official  robes;  none  but  state  officials  have  voice  in  their  installa- 
tion, and  they  stand  the  chief  authorities  of  the  nation,  and  al- 
though the  most  powerful,  they  are,  nevertheless,  beyond,  above, 
and  out  of  popular  control;  and  to  call  a  government  a  representa- 
tive form  of  government  whose  chief  authority  is  above  popular 
control  is  a  sad  commentary  on  the  misuse  of  good,  hard  English, 
considering,  too,  that  there  is  such  a  word  as  "oligarchy"  in  our 
lexicon. 

In  an  atmosphere  of  nationalism,  an  institution  such  as  our 
American  House  of  Lords  could  not  exist,  the  vast  monopolies 
which  its  senators  represent  being  nationalized;  our  American 
lords  would  be  gone,  the  necessity  of  their  further  deliberations, 
over.  And  I  am  certain  that  my  readers  will  respond  that  this 
antique,  medieval  remnant  of  popular  stupidty  should  have  been 
removed  into  the  waste-basket  of  political  insanity  long  and  long 
ago. 

The  people  must  be  perseveringly  educated  up  to  these  facts, 
eo  that  the  truths  of  nationalism  may  leaven  their  minds.  The 
rising  generation  should  be  taught  these  things;  for  nation- 
alism is  not  of  to-day,  or  of  to-morrow,  but  is  an  undownable 
science  of  popular  self-government,  which  has  come  to  stay  until 
its  final  perfection.  It  is  a  religious  duty,  which  devolves  upon 
every  father,  and  mother,  and  lover  of  our  country,  to  steadily 
spread  this  gospel  of  nationalism. 

The  United  States  Senate  represents  the  millionaire  end  of 
America,  and  no  other  department, — a  special  and  extreme  end 
of  society.  If  one  extreme  is  going  to  be  represented,  why  not 
represent  the  other  extreme  also;  and  if  we  are  going  to  have  a 
House  of  Millionaires,  why  not  go  to  the  other  foolish  extreme,  and 
give  us  a  House  of  Tramps,  who  shall  elect  themselves  as  do 
their  illustrious  colleagues?    The  reader   may  smile;  but  why 


64  THE   ABOLITION    OP   POLITICAL  CORRUPTION. 

not?  The  one  is  about  as  preposterouB  as  the  other.  The  House 
of  Tramps  could  do  no  more  than  legislate  in  their  own  personal 
favor;  and  when  did  ever  millonaire  forget  his  duty? 

In  fact,  the  entire  legislation,  municiple,  state,  and  national, 
is  of  an  individual  nature  in  effect  and  interest,  rather  than  pop- 
ular, and  if  individualism  is  in  love  with  itself,  the  present  state  of 
affairs  should  satisfy  it  to  the  extreme  of  its  self-consciousness. 

Nationalism  would  not  only  abolish  this  American  house  of  in- 
sufferable stuff,  our  Uuited  States  Senate,  but  it  would  abolish 
the  cause  of  its  existence,  i.  e.,  public  plunder,  by  making  the 
private  monopolies  whose  interests  it  represents  public.  Thus 
nationalism  would  abolish  political  corruption,  or  the  corruption 
of  our  public  agents  by  private  interests;  because  the  present 
private  institutions  now  working  the  corruption  would  be  trans- 
formed into  public  institutions,  and  the  source  of  the  corruption 
would  be  thereby  destroyed. 

It  is  private  proprietorship  that  works  our  present  political 
corruption.  Destroy  the  private  proprietorship,  and  you  destroy 
the  corruption.  Nationalism,  therefore,  is  the  remedy,  and  the 
only  remedy,  for  this  cancer  upon  our  body  politic.  The  bribing 
of  juries,  legislatures,  courts,  Congress,  senates,  political  con- 
ventions, the  debauchment  of  the  public  press, — all  would  dis- 
appear with  the  abolition  of  private  corporationism, — w^ould  dis- 
appear with  the  destruction  of  this  system  of  public  pillage  by 
individuals,  who,  singly  or  organized  as  a  band  of  legal  pirates, 
actually  receive  authority  by  charter  from  the  public  to  engage 
in  public  plunder. 

Thus  every  charter  delivered  by  the  state  to  private  interest  to 
use  public  property,  or  to  control  any  public  necessity,  is  a 
charter  by  the  public,  giving  themselves  into  the  power  of  private 
interests  to  be  used  for  private  interest  and  its  ends.  To  carry  out 
these  private  interests  in  their  absorption  of  the  public's  wealth, 
juries,  courts,  legislatures,  senatesj  conventions,  newspapers,  and 
citizens  must  be  corrupted;  and  as  their  public  absorption  of  the 
public  wealth  proceeds,  the  public  improverishment  proceeds, 
until  the  general  poverty  make  the  citizens,  through  dire  neces- 
sity, the  helpless  victims  of  their  snares. 

Therfore,  to  reverse  all  this,  we  must  put  an  end  to  each  and 
every  control  of  public  necessity  by  private  interest,  and  have 
them  made  public  departments.  Being  made  public  departments, 
their  economy  would  be  public  in  its  construction  and  working; 
and  where  princely  dividends  now  remain  after  paying  the  cost  of 
running,  and  go  to  add  up  the  swelling  billions  of  private  rapac- 
ity, the  fares,  rates,  and  charges  being  reduced  to  the  actual 
cost  of  the  service,  these  swelling  billions  would  swell  no  more  in 
their  present  directions,  but  swell  in  the  ditrection  where  they 
belong, — in  the  pockets  of  the  people;  and  these  billions  in  the 
pockets  of  the  people,  and  out  of  the  pockets  of  private  cor- 
ruptionists,  the  power  of  the  corruptionists  to  corrupt  would 
cease;  for  the  public  would  have  the  wealth,  and  the  corruption- 
ists would  have  nothing. 

Thus  nationalism  contains  the  remedy  for  public  corruption, 
and  inaugurates  a  reign  of  public  purity. 


THE  PERSONAL   DENUNCIATIONIST.  65 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 

THE   PERSONAL   DENUNCIATIONIST. 

Beware  of  individualism  as  a  reformer.  Unable  to  mentally 
grasp  the  whole,  it  contemplates  merely  individuals,  and  proceeds 
to  attribute  whatever  it  declaims  against  to  individuals.  It  in- 
wardly believes  itself  to  be  the  only  honest  thing  in  existence, 
which  belief  it  betrays  by  its  ready  denunciation  of  all  around. 
It  seeks  its  elevation  by  the  pulling  down  of  those  around  it.  It 
is  eloquent  in  pointing  out  the  faults  of  men,  and  dumb  in  their 
praise. 

If  you  inquire  the  cause  of  a  general  evil,  it  will  point  to  the 
millionaire,  the  monopolist  and  king.  Beware  of  it!  for  it  is  but 
the  other  end  of  the  millionaire,  the  monopolist  and  king;  for  it 
attempts  but  to  pull  the  king  from  his  throne  and  leave  the 
throne  remain, — vacant  for  itself;  attempts  but  to  pull  the  man 
down  from  his  place  of  rule  in  the  system,  and  to  leave  the  system 
intact, — intact  for  itself. 

Individualism  as  a  reformer  is  simply  a  personal  denuncia- 
tionist.  It  brings  the  truth  and  philosophy  of  the  thinker  into 
disrepute  with  its  hate  and  passion,  and  has  caused  the  world  to 
almost  abhor  reform,  so  much  has  it  surrounded  reform  with  its 
glamour  of  hate. 

The  world  needs  philosophers  and  thinkers.  Philosophy  and 
thought  philosophizes  and  thinks  itself  into  something  higher. 
But  your  individualist,  your  personal  denunoiationist,  wishes  to 
reform  exclusively  some  other  person  or  persons,  and  severaly 
leave  alone  his  own  perfection.  If  every  one  reformed  himself,  and 
were  to  leave  his  brother's  faults  to  his  brother,  with  what  a 
bound  the  world  would  go  up!  The  personal  denunciationist  is 
directly  upon  the  opposite  idea, — every  one  trying  to  reform  some 
one  else,  and  no  one  allowing  any  one  else  to  reform  him;  a  per- 
fect deadlock  in  progression. 

Personalism  is  directly  opposite  to  principle,  and  principle  ends 
where  personalism  begins.  You  can  only  reform  society  through 
ideas,  and  yourself  through  love. 

Ideas  deal  with  peoples,  and  never  are  confined  to  persons. 
So  long  as  we  deal  in  ideas,  we  are  safe  and  devoid  of  antagonism; 
but  the  moment  we  enter  upon  personalities,  that  moment  inau- 
gurates war,  and  if  continued,  must  end  in  death.  The  person- 
alist,  who  denounces  men,  is  simply  an  envyist,  and  this  explains 
the  proverbiality  of  such  becoming  tyrants  when  given  power. 
Beware  of  the  denouncer  of  men!  for  that  which  lacks  charity, 
magnanimity,  forgiveness,  pity,  hope,  sympathy,  and  kindness, 
and  which  substitutes  for  these  hate,  suspicion,  cruelty,  unfor- 
giveness,  slander,  and  the  insinuated  self-superiority  by  the 
contrast  of  a  brother's  asserted  defects,  is  of  a  dangerous  charac- 
ter to  tie  to,  and  society  shrinks  from  such  deformers  by  instinct. 
Beware  of  it!  for  by  and  by  it  will  denounce  you. 

Deformers,  or  envyists,  move  upon  the  plane  of  hate,  and  as 
barnacles  fasten  themselves  to  the  sides  of  noble  ships,  so  the 
personal  denunciationist  fastens  upon  noble  questions  and  retards 
them  likewise.    Take  a  body  of  such  and  they  will  proceed  to 


66  THE   PERSONAl^   DENUNCIATIONIST. 

denounce  the  rest  of  mankind;  then  at  length  they  will  turn 
upon  themselves  and  denounce  one  another,  until  chaos  ends 
the  affair. 

The  personalist  imagines  generally  that  his  personality  changes 
the  world.  It  is  not  the  person,  it  is  the  idea,  which  changes  the 
world, — not  the  personality  of  the  egotist;  his  personality  gener- 
ally fastens  itself  upon  the  idea  as  it  moves  up  and  he  is  carried 
up  by  it. 

Persons  will  insist  and  continue  to  lay  claim  to  individual 
ownership  of  earth,  air,  light,  and  water  so  long  as  they  lay  claim 
to  ideas, — something,  the  highest  of  all,  above  ownership.  And 
whoever  does  so  claim  to  personally  own  an  idea,  and  to  be  per- 
sonally the  cause  of  the  world's  progress,  will  lay  claim  to  the 
world  itself,  to  the  exclusion  of  the  remainder,  should  the  oppor- 
tunity offer. 

Patriotism  is  defined  as  the  last  refuge  of  a  scoundrel;  and  we 
would  define  personal  denunciation  as  the  first  refuge  of  an 
egotist.  We  want  no  convolutions,  no  earthquakes,  no  holocausts, 
no  fire  and  sword,  revolutions  or  gore,  or  men  on  horseback,  nor 
kings,  presidents,  leaders,  or  personalists;  but  what  we  do  want 
is  the  spread  of  earnest  truths  by  earnest  men  and  women,  who 
will  rise  above  personalism,  and,  like  Christ,  work  in  thought 
and  act  for  the  welfare  of  the  race,  with  benefit  to  all  and  injury 
unto  none.  Unless  you  act  from  the  plane  of  hate,  there  need 
not  be  any  fear  of  crucifixion  nowadays.  Upon  the  plane  of  love 
lies  safety,  power,  apid  victory.  The  world  has  moved  since  yes- 
terday, and  our  faith  is  strong  in  the  great  mass  of  humanity, 
whom  we  turn  to,  and  alone  look  to,  for  the  recognition  of 
truth. 

Down  there  in  the  shadowy  places,  down  in  the  earth,  are  war- 
shaped  things,  uncanny  to  look  upon,  uncanny  to  meet.  Down 
there,  it  is  uncanny  thing  against  uncanny  thing;  there,  life  in 
its  dark  side  strives  to  build  itself  upon  destruction  and  death; 
there,  is  one  uncanny  thing  killing  another,  seeking  its  life  by 
killing.  Around  us,  and  in  the  air,  and  down  into  the  sea,  we 
behold  the  same  condition.  Everywhere,  life  seeking  to  build 
itself  upon  the  debris  of  death;  and  all  isfailurel  In  that  concen- 
tration of  existence  known  as  man,  a  new  light  breaks  in  upon 
this  dark  side  of  nature.  In  that  light,  be  faintly  beholds  the 
very  cause  of  existence  itself,  the  very  cause  of  life  itself;  he 
finds  that  life  cannot  be  built  from  death,  though  all  beneath 
him,  and  all  around  him,  are  trying  to  demonstrate  otherwise; 
he  finds  that  life  springs  from  light,  and  that  the  essence  of  this 
life-yielding  light  is  love;  that  this  essence  is  at  his  center,  and 
reveals  itself  in  all  things  and  in  all  efforts  which  build  him;  and 
he  recognizes  its  absence  in  all  things  which  destroy  him.  This 
he  learns  gradually,  and  in  time  will  learn  completelj . 

Turning  his  eyes  upward, — up  from  the  warring  things  beneath 
his  feet  and  around  him, — he  beholds  the  sun.  In  that,  the 
whole  lower  relationship  of  thing  to  thing  is  reversed;  in  that  he 
beholds  the  broad  sheets  of  glory  streaming  down  from  the  infi- 
nite breast  upon  him  and  upon  all.  It  hath  no  enemy,  no  foe  to 
smite,  no  thing  to  kill  that  it  may  live!     It  hath  no  president,  no 


THE   PERSONAL   DENUNCIATIONIST.  G7 

king,  no  favorite  eon,  no  banned  child,  no  great,  no  small;  it  en- 
ters the  palace  of  the  rich  and  the  hut  of  the  poor,  and 
ealuteB  the  beggar's  cheek  with  its  mornLng  and  evening  kiss 
of  salutations,  yet  no  more,  yet  no  lesp,  than  it  would 
salute  the  cheek  of  the  king.  Down  from  the  ekies 
drop  heaven's  cleansing  tears;  down,  down  they  come 
upon  all  alike.  Nor  do  they  say:  "Upon  this  blade  shall  we 
come,  yet  not  upon  </iaf  blade;  upon  this  man's  field  shall  we 
pour  ourselves,  yet  not  upon  that  man's  field."  Yet  all  around 
man  and  all  beneath  his  feet  are  doing  exactly  this.  Here,  the 
thing  says:  "Upon  this  thing  shall  I  look  with  joy,  upon  that 
thing  with  hate;  upon  this  one  shall  I  pour  sustenance,  upon 
that  one  nothing;  this  child  is  my  child,  that  child  is  not  mine; 
to  this  person  shall  I  bring  life,  but  to  this  person  death;  this  one 
is  my  brother,  that  one  not  my  brother!" 

O,  let  us  form  ourselves  after  the  sun!  Let  us  be  unto  aii 
things  one.  Let  us  arise  in  the  morning  with  not  a  single 
feeling  in  our  hearts  against  anything  in  existence.  Let 
us  wipe  every  grudge,  prejudice,  and  every  animosity  from  off  our 
slate  of  consciousness,-  wipe  it  clean,  and  keep  it  clean.  Then  we 
shall  find  ourselves  becoming  as  the  sun,  and  partaking  of  its 
attributes;  then  we  shall  find  ourselves  taking  on  a  new  power; 
then  shall  we  learn  why  this  pursuit  of  the  things  beneath  our 
feet  and  around  us  is  a  failure;  that  life  cannot  extract  life,  nor 
base  life  upon  the  destruction  of  life  and  find  success;  that  we 
must  be  unlo  the  earth  what  the  sun  and  the  rain  are  unto  the 
earth,  and  unto  our  fellow  man  as  the  glories  and  tears  from 
above. 

This  knowledge  carried  into  individualism  and  collectivism 
forms  a  society  of  all  tor  one  and  one  for  all;  and  when  inaugu- 
rated upon  earth  will  cause  this  planet  to  so  shine  forth  that  our 
brother  intelligences  in  spheres  elsewhere  will  cry:  "Behold  the 
increased  glory  of  yon  star!" 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 

MORAL,   TURPITUDE. 

One  of  the  great  weaknesses  of  the  people  is  their  lack  of  con- 
fidence in  truth;  their  lack  of  a  firm  belief  in  the  triumph  of  prin- 
ciple. This  is  a  lack  of  faith.  They  will  tell  you  they  would  vote  for 
principle,  but  that  it  cannot  win;  that  they  would  vote  in  vain, — 
would  "throw  their  vote  away."  This  is  actually  the  result  of  a 
belief  in  the  supremacy  of  evil;  that  evil  predominates  and  will 
predominate;  and  that  although  they  prefer  principle,  still  they 
must  be  on  the  side  of  that  which  predominates,  even  if  they 
have  to  be  upon  the  side  and  have  to  vote  for  the  Devil.  Thisisthe 
Chinese  idea  of  belief  and  action, — a  people  who  believe  in  God 
but  who  worship  the  Devil,  because  the  latter,  they  think,  rules 
and  predominates.  And  yet  the  same  pagan  idea  prevails  with 
the  American  voter,  who  tells  you  he  believes  your  reform  idea  is 
right,  but  that  he  cannot  vote  for  the  right,  as  he  does  not  wish 
to  "throw  his  vote  away,"  and  so  he  goes  forth  and  rotes  for  that 
which  he  declares  to  be  the  wrong. 


68  MOKAL  TURPITUDE. 

Surely  to  vote  against  truth  because  it  is  weak  is  the  depth  of 
moral  depravity.  The  life,  health,  strength,  and  growth  of  the 
race  are  grounded  in  the  moral  faculties.  No  reform  can  come 
which  violates  these;  no  health,  no  strength,  no  growth.  A 
people  whose  hearts  rest  in  the  surpremacy  of  evil;  who  believe 
not  in  the  innate  goodness  of  man  and  woman;  whose  hope  is 
overclouded  in  suspicion,  forebodings  of  evil,  and  gloomy  arraign- 
ment of  the  future, — are  a  people  sadly  in  need  of  that  highest 
faculty  of  the  soul,  faith, — that  position  of  the  mind  which  in  the 
physical  we  denominate  courage, — a  belief,  a  confidence,  in  vic- 
tory. This  lack  of  faith,  this  moral  weakness  of  belief  in  the  posi- 
tive triumph  of  good  everywhere  and  at  all  times,  past,  present, 
and  future,  is  the  error  of  those  people  who  chill  the  vitals  of 
progress  by  their  continual  sighs  that  the  reign  of  justice  is  im- 
practicable, visionary,  Utopian,  far  away,  and  therefore  useless 
to  think,  speak,  write,  or  act  upon.  All  persons  evidencing  such 
are  spiritually  (diseased, — rotten  at  the  center  to  that  degree 
which  they  lack  in  this  creative  faculty  of  good, — faith. 

It  is  faith  which  alone  supports  me  in  the  writing  of  this  book, 
— the  confidence  in  humanity's  love  of  truth.  No  machine  could 
be  invented,  no  journey  started,  no  action  begun,  no  cause  ever 
carried  from  conception  to  fruition,  without  faith;  and  he  or  she 
who  puts  doubt  upon  the  accomplishment  of  truth,  upon  the 
establishment  of  the  fair  dream  of  nationalism,  stabs  it  to  the 
vitals  with  the  dagger  of  darkness.  To  hush  this  croaking  voice 
of  evil  as  it  throws  its  prophecies  over  nationalism,  all  that  is 
necessary  is  to  bravely  face  it.  Faith  is  a  cultivable  virtue,  as 
doubt  is  a  cultivable  vice.  Faith  is  confidence  in  the  good; 
doubt,  a  confidence  in  the  bad.  The  grander  the  cause,  the  greater 
the  gloom  doubt  throws  around  it;  for  doubt  is  of  evil.  Doubt 
is  death,  and  weakens  whatever  it  touches.  Doubt  is  a  coward: 
faith  is  courage.  Doubt  says.  "I  weaken,— I  die!"  Faith  says,  "I 
live!"  And  doubt  does  die,  and  faith  does  live.  Doubt  is  decent, 
faith  is  ascent;  the  one  failure,  the  other  success.  Faith  expects 
good,  doubt  expects  bad.  By  faith,  the  plant  reaches  its  arms  up 
to  the  light,  and  its  feet  into  the  darkness  for  life,  and  receives  it. 
Doubt  denies  the  coming  of  of  the  morning,  and  says:  "I  only  ac- 
cept sight;  accept  what  is  here;  I  believe  only  in  what  I  see,  feel, 
hear,  taste,  and  smell;  I  am  of  the  past,  not  of  the  future;  you 
speak  to  me  of  light,  I  am  of  the  darkness;  darkness  is  here, 
therefore  there  is  nothing  but  darkness  ahead.  I  will  accept 
nothing  except  I  see  it";  and  doubt  cannot  see,  because  it  is 
darkness.  Faith  pierces  the  darkness,  and  within  herself  be- 
holds the  coming  light.  She  beholds  man's  true  self  arising; 
she  beholds  the  miseries  of  the  race  dissipating;  her  ear  catches 
the  distant  music;  and  she  feels  the  inward  pulse  of  the  universal 
love.  The  mountain  of  hate  falls  into  the  waters  of  truth,  and 
the  spoliation  of  industry  ceases.  The  earth  and  its  glory  be- 
comes the  heritage  of  its  children,  and  nationalism  spreads 
throughout  the  globe. 

It  took  but  thirty-seven  years  to  elapse  between  the  organiza- 
iton  of  the  first  "anti-slavery"  organization  at  Boston,  and  the 
emancipation  proclamation    at  Washington;    and    oh,   what  a 


MOKAL.    TUKFITUUE. 


chanf^e  was  therel  But  during  those  thirty-seven  years,  the  faith 
in  liberty  burned  and  illumined  the  heart  of  Lincoln;  from  boy- 
hood to  manhood,  he  had  it  there  always,  and  lived  to  behold  its 
realization,  though  dying  for  its  truth. 

Hail,  white  faith!  Hold  up  thy  lamp  above  this  darkened  land  I 
Still  prophesy  thy  truth;  for  in  thy  prophecy  lies  creation! 

CHAPTER  XXV. 

PRESENT  LEGISLATION  THE  FAULT  OP  THE  PEOPLE. 

Many  people  seeking  no  further  than  personality  lay  much 
blame  upon  che  politicians  for  the  situation  as  it  is.  But  the 
blame  lies  not  with  the  politicians;  it  lies  in  the  general  apathy 
and  erroneous  ideas.  The  kind  of  politicians  we  have  to-day  is 
the  kind  of  politicians  the  people  through  mistaken  ideas  them- 
selves create.  The  successful  politician  of  to-day  owes  very  little 
to  the  people.  True,  their  votes  elect  him.  But  what  of  that? 
Their  votes  would  also  elect  A,  or  B,or  C,  as  quickly  as  they  elect 
him,  if  either  of  these  were  to  receive  the  nomination  of  the  con- 
vention. The  nomination  is  what  he  must  look  to,  and  that  means 
he  must  look  to  the  monopolies;  for  they  fix  the  nomination. 
Now,  then,  if  the  monopolies  fix  up  the  ticket  of  the  R.  party,  and 
also  fix  up  the  ticket  of  the  D.  party,  and  the  people  unanimously 
vote  either  of  these  tickets,  and  thus  a  politician  receives  office,  he 
considers  the  monopoly  who  put  him  on  the  ticket  as  his  master. 

If  you  were  to  ask  this  politician  why  he  did  not  consider  him- 
self indebted  or  under  obligation  to  the  people,  he  would  tell  you 
"that  the  people  did  not  vote  for  him,  but  voted  f6r  the  ticket," 
and  which  would  be  a  solemn  truth;  that  the  monopolies  offered 
him  the  office,  providing  he  would  serve  their  interests  during  his 
term,  and  which  if  he  did  faithfully,  they  would  again  place  him 
on  the  ticket  which  they  regularly  give  to  the  people  to  vote. 
Now,  then,  to  expect  a  man  to  represent  the  people  who  receives 
nothing  from  the  people,  and  who  would  never — could  never — 
even  get  on  the  ticket  if  he  stood  by  the  people,  and  whom  the 
people  would  vote  into  the  poor-house  if  the  corporations  did  not 
put  him  on  their  ticket, — I  say  to  expect  such  a  man  to  stand  by 
the  people  is  to  expect  something  from  him  which  is  radically 
impossible  for  him  to  give. 

Yet  in  the  face  of  these  facts  we  have  heard  some  one  say  that 
the  people  are  betrayed  by  politicians. 

Who  has  not  heard  this  over  and  over,  again  and  again?  Who 
has  not  heard  about  tricky,  designing  politicians,  public  thieves, 
peculating  knaves,  false  demagogues,  selling,  bartering  the  inter- 
ests, rights,  and  liberties  of  the  people?    Everybody. 

We  have  heard  this,  read  this,  until  nauseated.  Let  us  pene- 
trate into  the  inwardness  of  the  matter  and  analyze  this  universal 
"whine"  about  "the  people  being  betrayed." 

Who  elect  the  designing  public  thieves,  these  tricky,  peculating 
knaves,  these  false  demagogues? 

The  "betrayed"  people. 

Who  re-elect  them,  after  they  have  been  betrayed  by  them? 

The  "betrayed"  people. 


70  PRESENT   LEGISLATION   THE   FAULT  OP  THE   PEOPLE, 

Who  is  it  that  vote  solidly  by  the  millions  for  whatever  a  party 
convention  nominates? 

The  "betrayed"  people. 

Who  is  it  that  cry  by  the  hundreds  of  thousands,  "We  kno\ 
you  are  right,  that  is  the  true  principle,  but  if  we  voted  for  it  ou| 
vote  would  be  thrown  away?" 

The  "betrayed"  people. 

I  am  no  demagogue,  and  shall  not  flatter  the  people.     In  thi 
ruling  politicians  of  America  the  people  behold  their  coUectiv^^ 
intelligence  reflected  as  from  a  mirror;  and  the  reflection  is  a  re- 
flection in  more  ways  than  one. 

The  people  would  fain  delude  themselves  that  the  fault  is  not 
their  own;  that  it  is  the  politicians  who  are  the  cause  of  the  evils 
complained  of.  How  natural  it  is  for  an  ignorant  rascal  to  blame 
some  one  else  for  his  own  creation! 

If  you  want  a  test  of  the  moral  status  of  the  people, — the  "be- 
trayed" people, — open  a  hall  with  a  dog-tight  or  man-fight  on  one 
side  of  the  street, — fifty  cents  admission, — and  another  hall  on  the 
other  side  of  the  street  with  a  lecture  on  Nationalism, — admission 
free, — and  determine  where  the  "betrayed"  people  will  most  con- 
gregate. 

Just  so  long  as  the  people  imagine  their  own  fault  to  be  the 
fault  of  some  one  else,  and  not  their  own,  just  so  long  will  there 
be  no  improvement.  Once  reason  it  into  them  that  they  them- 
selves are  to  blame,  the  sooner  they  will  begin  remedying  the  evil 
— the  sooner  the  people  will  begin  ascending  a  better  plane  of 
action  and  thought, — the  sooner  politicians  will  beconae  statesmen; 
for  the  people  will  have  become  statesmen  themselves. 

The  only  true  reform  is  the  elevation  of  the  moral  and  intellect- 
ual status  of  the  people,  and  he  or  she  who  thus  educates  truly 
elevates,  and  is  the  only  true  reformer. 

Thus  the  people  are  wont  to  lay  the  responsibilities  of  the  evils 
of  the  state  to  the  politicians;  and  when  you  ask,  "Why  then  do 
you  not  elect  honest  politicians?"  they  answer  with  three  deep- 
dyed  falsehoods:  1.  There  are  no  honest  politicians;  2.  Politics 
makes  men  dishonest;  3.  All  men  are  dishonest.  We  answer:  1. 
Society  is  prolific  of  honest  politicians;  that  the  people  hardly 
ever  sustain  them;  that  the  people  leave  the  choice  of  candidates 
to  conventions,  and  that  the  agents  of  monopoly  attend  to  the 
conventions  for  them;  that  the  people  accept  this,  and  stand  it, 
and  vote  for  the  selections  so  made;  that  if  an  honest  politician  is 
selected  by  the  monopolies  in  a  convention,  it  is  as  a  decoy  duck,  to 
cover  the  remaining  selections;  that  when  the  monopolies  select 
a  politician,  and  the  people  elect  this  selection,  they  elect  an  agent 
of  the  monopolies, — not  an  agent  of  their  own,— and  it  would  be 
astonishing  if  we  had  political  honesty  under  these  circumstances. 

2.  "That  politics  makes  men  dishonest,"  we  deny.  Politics  is 
the  science  of  social  government.  From  its  beginning  to  its  end^ 
its  contemplation  and  associations  widen  and  broaden  as  it  deal^ 
with  numbers  and  masses.  Let  the  mind  be  ever  t-o  low,  ever  so 
dishonest,  the  circle  of  action,  the  ideas  it  must  deal  with  in  poliJ 
tics,  are  larger  than  those  of  private  duty;  economic  questions 
continually  arise  and  awaken  mental  action,  be  it  ever  so  small 


PRESENT  LEGISLATION  THE  FAULT  OP  THE  PEOPLE.      71 

And  although  the  very  crudest  and  most  primitive  species  of  poli- 
ticians are  elected  by  our  careless  people,  no  matter  how  rude  the 
material  be,  how  ignorant  be  the  mind  elected,  that  mind  broadens 
and  deepens  by  its  political  experience. 

3.  "All  men  are  dishonest,"  is  the  third  charge.  Even  the  man 
who  thus  proclaims  his  own  iniquity  has  a  right  to  be  answered. 
The  greater  his  error,  the  more  he  should  be  answered.  The  most 
ignorant  are  the  most  unfortunate,  and  need  brotherhood  most 
of  all.  We  are  all  doing  the  best  we  are  capable  of;  we  would  all 
do  better  if  we  knew  better.  The  very  denial  of  this  truth  proves 
our  ignorance.  Truth  is  life,  no  matter  how  dark  or  thick  the 
circling  folds, — there  at  the  center  is  the  white  spark  of  heaven. 
That  spark  extinguished,  the  light  of  life  would  be  gone,  and  all 
would  be  darkness.  Down  deep  beneath  the  hate  and  passion  of 
us  all,  there  is  a  fair,  pure  angel  climbing  up, — climbing  upl  but 
pushed  back  and  denied!  And  ye  say  "men  are  dishonest!"  How 
appropriate  were  the  words  of  the  Master:  "O  ye  of  little  faith!" 

This  angel  in  every  individual  center  would  be  cherished  and 
appealed  to  in  the  conditions  of  nationalism, — would  be  drawn  up 
instead  of  being  crushed  down, — and  this  collective  and  universal 
spark  of  love  would  reign  in  the  breast  of  every  man  as  it  now 
reigns  in  the  breast  of  every  woman. 

CHA.PTER  XXVI. 

BRAINS,   NOT   BULLETS. 

How  shall  this  come  about?  How  shall  nationalism  be  inaugu- 
rated in  America?  How  shall  the  earth,  for  example,  become  the 
property  of  its  real  owners,  the  people'*' 

One  writer  writes  of  "the  people  imperatively  demanding  a  change 
in  the  future."  Who  are  the  people  going  to  imperatively  demand 
this  change  of?  Who  can  give  the  people  anything  in  the  United 
States?  Here,  everything  belongs  to  the  people;  the  people  are, 
in  reality,  the  only  power,  the  only  one  to  grant  any  one  anything. 
And  if  the  people  ever  imperatively  demand  anything  of  any  one, 
now  or  in  the  future,  they  will  have  to  demand  it  of  themselves. 
And  a  person  imperatively  demanding  a  thing  from  himself  is  en- 
tirely superfluous;  for  if  he  has  the  thing,  he  has  it,  and  there's  the 
end  of  it;  and  if  he  has  it  not,  he  has  it  not,  and  cannot  give  it,  no 
matter  how  he  imperatively  demands  it.  The  whole  truth  lies  in 
the  fact  that  the  people  have  yet  to  simply  understand  their 
liberty;  and  when  they  do  understand,  it  shall  spring  from  that 
understanding  as  the  fruit  springs  from  the  blossoms. 

Another  writes  "that  the  people  will  revolute  with  dynamite 
and  steel."  But  who  are  the  people  going  to  revolute  with  dyna- 
mite and  steel  against?  Who  are  they  going  to  wrest  their  rights 
from?  Surely  a  few  half-dead  property  cranks  or  millionaires, 
and  their  sisters,  and  their  cousins,  and  their  aunts,  are  not  going 
to  keep  down  sixty  millions  of  people! 

What  a  museum  if  such  were  actually  the  fact!  One  poor  little 
dyspeptic  Shylock  sitting  upon  the  apex  of  a  huge  pyramid  of 
people, — a  pyramid  continually  crying  out:  "Oh,  will  not  some- 
body  take  from  off  us  this  terrible  overshadowing  power?    See 


72  BRAINS,   NOT  BULLETS. 

how  it  is  keeping  us  down!"  Even  a  one-third  witted  person 
without  glasses  could  perceive  the  absurdity,  and  would  reply: 
"My  friends,  you  are  certainly  mistaken;  the  person  you  allude  to 
is  not  keeping  you  down, — cannot  keep  you  down!  It's  war  avoir- 
dupois would  not  exceed  the  single  weight  of  one  of  your  ordinary 
selves,  while  yours  collectively  is  in  the  neighborhood  of  hundreds 
of  millions.  Do  you  not  perceive  the  numerical  absurdity?  The 
chattel  slaves  of  the  South  were  kept  down.  Their  white  brethren 
North  and  South  held  them  in  subjection  by  superior  armed  phys- 
ical force  and  numerical  strength;  but  no  superior  force  or  numer- 
ical strength  appears  in  your  case.  True,  I  duly  perceive  this 
wart  sitting  upon  your  apex,  but  it  appears  to  me  as  a  part  of  the 
pyramid  you  have  built  up  of  yourselves.  But  why  not  just  step 
from  under  him?  There  is  nothing  outside  of  yourselves  pre- 
venting you," 

"Nay;  we  cannot.  He  is  keeping  us  down,  and  we  imperatively 
demand  a  change.    We  will  revolute  with  blood  and  steel!" 

"How  happens  this  person  thus  upon  this  strange  apex?" 

"Because  we  believed  and  do  believe  he  has  a  right  to  be  up 
there.  We  all  can't  be  up  there,  and  there  is  no  other  way  to  fix 
it.  We  must  pay  him  rent,  interest,  and  profit;  and  to  do  this  we 
must  get  down  under  him,  and  m.ust  put  him  on  top.  Ah,  sir!  this 
is  a  very  ancient,  sacred,  worthy,  and  honorable  pyramid.  But 
we  imperatively  demand  a  change,  or  we'll  revolute  with  blood 
and  steel!    Oh,  won't  some  one  take  him  off!" 

Y'et  this  is  exactly  as  it  stands, — this  ridiculous  societary -pyra- 
mid, which  is  crying  out  against  a  result  the  fundamental  cause 
of  which   it  believes  in  and  indorses.    The  idea  of  a  people  revo- 
luting  with  fire  and  steel  against  themselves!    Yet  there  are 
philosophers  who  actually  expect  a  people  to  rise  and  overthrow 
this  pyramid  which  they,  the  people,  build  and  reverence.    The 
peculiar  philosophers  of  this  man-fighting-himself  theory  are  of  a 
pyrotechnical  nature,  and  they  simultaneously  announce  a  twin; 
idea  equally  as  ornamental  as  its  brother,  viz.,  that  physical  force] 
should  precede  the  mental  understanding  of  the  object  to  be] 
attained.     To  them,  blood  has  the  odor  of  progress;  murder,  de- 
vastation, and  flames  are  a  hymn  ushering  in  a  saturnalia  of  intel- 
ligence; and  war,  red,  red-eyed  war,  is  a  hallelujah  and  panacea] 
for  every  woe;  that  peace,  plenty,  and  happiness  would  flow  from 
the  gibbet,  and  the  dying  groans  of  unhappy  victims  would  be  the 
mysterious  paeans  of  peace. 

Such  philosophers  term  themselves  "anarchists,"  perceiving  not 
that  tumult,  violence,  and  passion  can  never  establish  anarchy  or 
no-government;  that  tumult,  violence,  and  passion  is  the  very 
father,  mother,  brother,  and  sister  of  government;  that  in- 
ward self-control  is  the  opposite  of  passion,  and  must  prevail  be- 
fore exterior  government  ceases. 


VOTING   SOVEREIGNS.  73 

CHAPTER    XXVII. 

VOTING    SOVEREIGNS. 

Individualism  has  steadily  suppressed  nationalism,  through 
the  political  "conventions";  in  these  rings  of  political  vice,  indiv- 
idualism dictates  the  to-be  agents  and  policy  of  the  government. 
The  convention  prints  the  dictum,  and  hands  it  over  to  the  sov- 
ereigns to  vote,  which  they  faithfully  do,  steadily  and  surely,  year 
after  year,  as  the  coming  and  the  going  of  the  seasons;  and  the 
"voting  sovereigns"  and  the  politioal  convention  fit  as  divinely  as 
ever  twin  calves  fitted.  Conceived  together,  each  of  itself  could 
not  exist  alone,  twins  ! 

The  voting  "sovereign"  of  the  republic  is  a  strange  phenomenon 
in  himself;  for  they  are  all  /le's.  I  do  not  think  you  could  make 
one  out  of  a  she;  a  she's  got  more  natural  common  sense.  The 
"sovereign"'  is  the  production  of  "partyism" ;  a  fad  or  craze  of 
our  republic,  whereby  the  voters  divide  into  two  large  herds  every 
national  election.  Not  a  principle  nor  an  idea  in  sight  or  espoused 
by  either;  and  yet  tremendous  meetings  and  speeches,  much 
music  and  loud  noises,  together  with  firing  of  cannon,  and  bom- 
bastical,  fantastical  parades,  illuminated  by  fire-works,  bad  smells, 
bad  whiskey,  bad  tobacco,  and  rows  go  to  make  up  the  program. 
The  public  press  take  sides,  and  represent  their  respective  herds. 
The  more  awful  the  slander  and  worse  the  calumy  the  herds  and 
their  herders  can  assail  each  other  with,  the  better  pleased  they 
seem. 

It  is  charged  by  each  that  the  other  is  about  to  destroy  civiliza- 
tion, and  restore  the  nation  to  primitive  savagery.  Personal  duels, 
street  wars,  and  a  general  stirring  up  of  the  animal  passions  reign 
during  what  they  call  the  "canvass."  All  investigations  of  the 
supposed  issues  at  stake  are  conducted  on  the  basis  of  each  side 
endeavoring  to  prove  the  other  g'ilty  of  intentional  falsehood, 
and  usually  tapers  into  a  physical  debate.  If  any  independent 
or  rather  unpsychologized  mind  advances  an  idea  which  would 
really  benefit,  and  which  could  be  established  at  the  ballot-box  by 
popular  vote,  he  is  pronounced  a  "crank;"  an  advocate  of  some- 
thing impracticable.  Both  herds  will  cease  fighting  and  fuse 
to  defeat  a  crank."  The  oddity  of  it  all  is,  that  these 
two  great  herds  exchange  what  they  call  their  principles 
or  platforms  every  eight  years,  the  one  taking  the  platform  of 
the  other,  and  vice  versa.  What  divides  them,  or  keeps  them 
divided,  no  one  knows.  It  is  neither  nationality,  religion,  nor 
political  views;  for  you  are  as  likely  to  find  all  nationalities, 
religions,  and  party  political  views  in  one  party  as  in  the  other. 

The  drivers  of  the  herds  buy  a  nomination  and  proceed  to  drum 
up  the  sovereigns. 

A  brass  band,  some  fire-works,  and  stale  beer  gather  them  in 
sufficient  numbers,  and  speaking  commences  after  the  following 
style: — 

"Fellow-citizens!" 

"Hi-yi-yi!" 

"Three  cheers  for  our  herd!" 

"'Rah I  'rah!  'rah!" 


74  VOTING   SOVEREIGNS. 

"Elect  'the  ticket,''  or  you  will  be  slaves!" 

"We  will!  we  will!" 

(It  will  be  noticed  that  the  sovereigns  are  supporting  their 
families  on  a  dollar  a  day,  and  are  thus  on  a  par  with  the  Russian 
serf.  They  have  scarcely  an  article  of  value  in  the  world,  and 
receive  in  return  for  their  work  a  hovel  to  shelter  them,  rags  to 
cover  them,  and  the  coarsest  species  of  fodder  to  keep  the  breath 
in  their  toilworn  bodies.) 

"Will  you  be  slaves?" 

"Never!  never!" 

"Then  vote  as  you  have  always  voted, — as  you  voted  last  year, 
and  the  year  before,— as  your  miserable  wretch  of  a  father  voted, 
who  toiled  and  starved,  voting  the  straight  ticket.  Don't  scratch! 
vote  like  him, — don't  think,  don't  change,  go  it  blind, — right  or 
wrong, — first,  last,  and  all  the  time!" 

"Hi-yi-yi !" 

(Great  applause  by  the  sovereigns.) 

"Retain  your  freedom  !" 

"We  will!  we  will!" 

"Three  cheers  for  our  herd!" 

"'Rah I  'rah!  'rah!" 

If  you  ask  one  of  the  sovereigns  whose  herd  is  in  power, 
"What  brought  your  wages  down  from  five  dollars  a  day  to  one?" 
he  will  answer: — 

"Over-production." 

Or  because  there  are  too  many  shoes  made,  the  people  are 
going  barefooted;  because  there  is  too  much  flour,  the  people  are 
going  hungry.  In  a  word,  the  creation  of  plenty  is  the  reason 
people  have  nothing. 

Should  you  ask  one  of  the  sovereigns  whose  herd  is  not  in 
power  the  same  question,  h">  will  answer  that  it  is  because  his 
herd  is  not  in  power. 

Should  you  prove  to  him  that  his  herd  advocates  and  is 
pledged  to  enforce  precisely  the  same  rule  as  the  other  herd,  it 
makes  no  more  impression  on  him  than  the  same  information 
would  if  imparted  to  a  rhinocerous  in  his  native  jungle. 

No  ray  of  thought  can  penetrate  the  mind  of  a  type  of  the  real 
voting  sovereigns. 

He  is  a  fixture. 

One  of  the  herd. 

If  you  were  to  ask  him  what  a  "coupon"  was,  he  could  n't  tell 
wehether  it  was  made  of  brick  or  mortar. 

If  you  were  to  ask  him  where  the  millionaire's  five  thousand 
dollars  per  day  comes  from,  it  would  be  to  him  an  idiotic 
conundrum. 

If  you  were  to  talk  about  "contraction"  and  "expansion"  of  the 
volume  of  money,  it  would  be  Greek  to  him. 

But  to  talk  to  him  of  the  "Parties,"  and  the  word  "Party" 
brings  him  to  life.  He'll  talk!  talk!  talk!  He'll  gesture!  gesture  I 
He'll  overwhelm  you  with  the  history  of  his  party;  he'll  drown 
you,  dose  you,  bombard  you  with  words,  and  talk,  and  gestures; 
and  talk  and  words  in  which  you  could  no  more  find  the  trace 
of  an  idea  than  he  could  find  or  trace  the  reason  of  his  condition. 


VOTING  SOVEREIGNS.  75 

There  are  voting  sovereigns  who  seem  superior  to  others  in 
intelligence, — who  can  actually  perceive  that  both  parties  are  one 
and  the  same  on  principle;  that  no  relief  will  result  in  th« 
election  of  either. 

Yet  strange  to  say,  should  you  ask  one  of  these  sovereigns, 
"Why  not  vote  against  both  parties?"  the  answer  would  be: — 

"Should  I  vote  for  principle,  I  would  throw  my  vote  awa) ." 

You  might  inform  him  that  no  man  ever  threw  his  vote  away 
who  voted  for  principle;  that  no  man  evei  threw  his  life  away 
who  died  for  principle.  Yet  it  would  have  no  effect, — not  on  one 
of  the  voting  sovereigns.  It  would  only  bring  forth  more  words, 
gestures,  and  words,  until  you  would  come  to  the  conclusion  that 
nothing  under  the  heavens  save  a  double  load  of  a  strong  solution 
of  concentrated  evolution  would  ever  make  an  impression  upon 
this  plaster-of-Paris-like  brain. 

Time  only  moves  him, — removes  him. 

The  real  danger  of  the  republic  to-day  is  its  voting  sovereigns. 

Your  railroad  monopolists,  your  bond-holders,  your  land-grab- 
"bers,  are  not  half  so  dangerous  as  your  voting  sovereigns. 

It  is  they  who  are  the  source  of  their  country's  evils. 

There  is  not  a  wrong  to-day  that  would  not  be  immediately 
righted  were  it  not  for  these  voting  sovereigns. 

It  is  they  who  are  continually  voting  to  enslave  themselves  and 
their  fellow-men. 

Their  moving  and  projecting  impulses  are  hate,  sectional 
animosity,  religious  bigotry,  intolerance,  class  pride,  shallow  con- 
ceit, barbarity,  savagery,  cannibalism,  spleen,  bile,  dyspepsia, 
jaundice,  gall,  decay,  disease,  meanness,  greed,  idolatry,  fraud, 
crime,  theft,  gluttony,  lechery,  debauchery,  and  constitutional 
Ignorance. 

Ignorance  is  the  base,  misery  the  column,  and  fraud  the  statue 
crowning  this  monument  of  uncivilization. 

There  is  no  need  for  any  of  this  in  a  republic  where  an  intelli- 
gent people  can  alter  all  things. 

Thus  through  the  "convention"  and  the  "sovereigns,"  this 
beautiful  twin-calf  institution  of  our  country,  individualism  has 
absorbed  the  lands  and  waters  of  the  people,  until  the  spoliated 
whole  have  but  the  right  of  passing  along  the  roads  and  viewing 
across  fences  rich  and  fertile  domains,  designed  by  the  Almighty 
for  them,  but  through  this  ignorance  voted  into  personalism. 
That  these  domains  be  restored  back  to  the  nation  to  be  used  by 
the  collectivity,  that  each  may  be  protected  in  his  right,  is  the 
prayer  and  the  duty  marked  out  for  nationalism.  Ay,  it  is  the 
prayer  of  every  mother  who  shrinks  from  beholding  her  sons  and 
daughters  the  future  land  peons  of  sordid  individualism. 

Under  nationalism,  the  political  convention  would  be  unneces- 
sary; the  people  through  the  superior  advantages  of  conditions, 
being  intelligent  enough  to  form  their  own  judgment  upon  ideas 
and  men,  would  find  it  unnecessary  to  look  up  to  a  few  obliging 
individuals,  in  order  to  learn  who  are  the  proper  parties  to  vote 
for,  and  what  are  the  proper  principles  to  advocate;  for  the  voting 
sovereign  ivill  vote  for  anything  and  advocate  anything  the  con- 
vention hands  to  him. 


76  VOTING  SOVEREIGNS. 

But  the  voting  sovereign  is  awaking,  his  forehead  is  raising, 
his  ears  shortening,  his  jaws  less  protruding,  his  teeth  shrinking, 
and  his  hair  descending  from  him  in  showers;  he  is  taking  his 
front  feet  from  off  the  ground,  and  gradually  accustoming  him- 
self to  stand  erect;  the  thick  callous  of  fourteen  hours  a  day  upon 
his  hands  and  upon  his  brain  is  softening  and  lessening,  and  into 
his  mind  are  penetrating  the  penetrable  truths  of  nationalism. 
Society,  decrease  thy  hours  of  Toil,  and  increase  thy  hours  of 
Thought! 

And  as  for  thee,  political  convention,  great  centra',  sun  of 
political  knowledge,  which  now  instructeth  us  poor  benighted 
sovereigns  what  to  tJaink,  and  how  to  vote!  we  are,  alas,  soon  to 
behold  thy  eclipse;  great  "Common  Sense"  is  preparing  to 
cross  thy  disk  to  eclipse  thy  questionable  spark  in  a  mightier 
illumination,  in  which  thy  sovereign  discerns  that  through 
which  he  becomes  a  convention  unto  himself. 

CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

THE  ABOLITION  OP  PARTIES. 

Looking  forward  to  the  parties  of  the  future,  we  shall  find  less 
of  partyism,  and  more  of  thought;  less  of  senseless  individualis- 
tic antagonisms  based  upon  geographical  or  race  divisions,  and 
more  of  ideas.  The  parties  of  the  future  will  be  parties  of  ideas, 
and  not  of  prejudices;  the  parties  of  the  fyture  will  be  parties 
based  upon  the  ideas  of  collectivism  versus  individualism.  Upon 
the  side  of  individualism  will  be  arranged  the  kings  and  would-be 
kings,  the  monopolists  and  would-be  monopolists;  self-conscious- 
ness and  all  pertaining  to  self  will  be  there  marshaled;  while 
upon  the  side  of  collectivism  will  be  arranged  all  that  which  feels, 
sympathizes,  and  considers  humanity,  and  which  lives,  breaths, 
and  acts  for  the  race.  Then  we  will  find  the  line  for  the  first 
time  clearly  and  unmistakably  drawn,  and  the  evil  and  the  good 
separated, — self-consciousness  upon  one  side,  brotherhood  upon 
the  other.  Then  the  reformer  and  the  deformer  will  reveal 
themselves;  the  first  the  self-conscious  individualist;  the  second 
the  universal-conscious  collectivist.  The  clearer  the  issue,  the 
quicker  humanity  decides  it,  and  decides  for  the  right.  Selfish- 
ness will  go  down  when  it  unmistakably  stands  forth.  Then 
there  will  be  no  more  parties,  no  more  division  of  mankind  into 
herds,  but  humanity  will  be  as  a  family.  They  may  then  differ 
in  ideas,  but  it  will  only  result  in  a  conference  of  thought,  in  a 
comparison  of  judgments.  A  party  is  merely  individualism 
carried  into  numbers,  into  association  of  individuals.  They  are 
based  upon  self,  personalism,and  sectionalism. 

Thought  is  above  parties.  It  is  the  maker  and  breaker  of  par- 
ties. Parties  cannot  harness,  govern  or  restrain  it.  There  is 
something  little,  narrow,  and  clannish  about  the  very  name  of 
"party"  which  repels.  Parties  are  all  alike  in  their  partyism,  the 
redeeming  point  of  some  being  that  they  partake  of  a  more  ad- 
vanced "idea"  than  others.  As  a  party  crystalizes  around  an 
idea,  it  attempts  to  bottle  up  and  imprison  thought  within  itself. 


THE    ABOLITION    OF    PARTIES.  77 

being  superior  to  matter  and  continues  her  flight. 

It  a  party  is  of  an  advanced  "idea,"  and  you  think  up 
to  its  "idea,"  you  will  find  it  just  as  dogmatic  and  despotic 
about  thinking  beyond  its  idea  as  its  ancient  predecessor 
of  an  inferior  mold.  If  you  continue  thinking,  you  are  im- 
mediately arraigned  as  "a  Utopian  dreamer,"  "ahead  of  the 
times,"  "an  impracticable,"  and  it  is  whispered  softly  to  you  that 
your  course  will  drive  away  "the  sovereigns,"  "lose  us  votes;" 
"we  need  generalship,"  "strategy,"  "policy;"  in  a  word,  your 
thought  must  stop  and  bend  itself  to  the  establishment  of  a 
system  by  which  we,  the  thinkers,  will  get  rich  "individual- 
ism." 

The  very  fact  that  a  "party"  carefully  eliminates  everything 
which  proposes  to  go  beyond  its  idea  discovers  that  a  party  is  but 
an  idea,  and  that  thought,  its  creator,  is  its  superior,  and  can 
never  be  chained  subservient  to  it.  Thought,  therefore,  is  above 
all  parties.  God  help  him  who  continues  thinking,  and  who 
expects  the  gifts  and  patronage  of  office  from  the  party  which 
probably  his  very  thought  has  helped  to  create.  He  will  be 
wriggled  out  into  the  cold  by  some  more  practicable  worm. 

Thus  parties  by  their  nature  are  moth-like,  brief  and  ephem- 
eral. Why?  Because  upon  birth  they  cut  themselves  off  from 
that  which  was  and  is  the  source  of  their  existence,  and  therefore 
are  no  sooner  born  than  they  begin  to  corrupt,  rot,  and  die.  For 
thought  is  the  purifier. 

Thought  gives  to  the  world  an  idea.  A  portion  of  humanity 
embrace  it,  and  immediately  you  have  a  party;  but  that  which 
gave  the  "idea"  continues  thinking  on,  and  erelong  thinks  itself 
clear  out  and  beyond  "the  party," — grasps  a  superior  truth,  and 
again  stands  as  far  in  advance  as  ever.  They  who  can  but  grasp 
the  "idea,"  and  hardly  that,  form  the  party,  and  there  remain 
until  its  festering  corruption  drives  them  by  its  very  stench 
again  into  the  pure  atmosphere  of  thought. 

This  is  the  physics  of  politics.  But  thought!  Ah!  that  is 
above  your  politics,  as  the  sun  is  absvethe  reptiles  which  its  fires 
have  called  into  brief  existence.  Politics  may  be  a  profession; 
reform  is  a  philosophy.  Thought  gives  you  a  form  of  politics 
to-day,  and  to-morrow  annihilates  that  which  yesterday  it 
created.  Why?  Because  she  has  learned  of  something 
better. 

The  world  has  never  witnessed,  and  probably  never  will,  a 
party  big  enough,  wide  enough,  broad  enough,  deep  enough, 
nor  high  enough  to  afford  wing-room  enough  for  thought,  unless 
thought  itself  shall  evolve  us  to  a  party  comprehending  nature 
and  eternity. 

Parties  are  but  the  steps  of  progress;  thought  the  whole  con- 
tinued flight;  that  which  forms  the  steps;  the  marvelous  archi- 
tect ever  building  onward,  upward,  from  the  material  to  the 
spiritual.  Give  us  thought!  With  it  we'll  bind  the  lightnings 
to  our  chariot.  With  it,  the  mountains  will  cleave  and  open  a 
passage  for  our  feet,  the  seas  turn  back  their  tides,  and  make 
way  for  our  throne!  With  it,  we  need  no  wings  to  lift  our  matter, 
no  lever  to  move  our  weight!    Give  it  us,  and  you  can  take  your 


78  THE    ABOLITION    OF    PARTIES. 

Bun  and  stare;  for  with  it  we  yet  shall  make  a  day  superior  to 
your  sun,  a  night  superior  to  your  stars!  But  give  us  thought, 
and  from  its  marvels  we'll  extract  a  vegetation  whose  fruits  and 
balms  of  appetite  will  outrival  the  dreams  of  your  paradise. 
With  thought,  we'll  wreathe  these  now  capricious  skies  into  tears 
or  smiles  as  we  would  have  them.  The  very  sources  and  forces  of 
all  these  woes  which  now  afflict  us,  rend,  torment,  and  tear  us, — 
forming  the  veritable  fiends  cursing  and  consuming  us, — we'll 
bend  into  our  ministering  angels.  For  whatever  is  our  enemy, 
while  it  governs  and  guides  us,  becomes  our  devoted  and  most 
subservient  friend  when  our  thought  has  planted  her  feet  of  light 
upon  its  neck  and  assumed  her  sway  above  its  forces.  Thus 
dynamite  destroys  ungoverned,  and  builds  when  ruled.  Give  us 
thought  and  we'll  transform  evil  into  good,  disease  into  health, 
pain  into  joy,  darkness  into  light,  falsehood  into  truth, — ay! 
transform  hell  itself  into  heaven;  for  discord  is  but  undeveloped 
harmony. 

How  mighty  is  electricity!  It  molds,  shapes,  builds,  tinges, 
blends,  and  transforms.  But  how  much  mightier  is  thought!  for 
to  her  this  subtle  magician  falls  upon  its  knees  and  becomes  a 
poor  automaton.  Let  us  examine  the  features  of  this  god.  Intel- 
ligence. Let  us  take  an  instance:  A  score  of  savages  are  essay- 
ing to  lift  a  rock.  Another  enters  with  thought,  and  forms  a 
lever,  lifting  more  than  the  twenty,  and  in  less  time.  Another 
enters  with  still  greater  thought,  and,  dropping  some  grains  of 
dynamite  into  a  crevice,  lifts  it  almost  coeval  with  bis  will, 
abolishing  more  labor  and  more  time  in  the  realization  of  his 
prayer. 

If  this  omnipotent  and  ever-progressive  ruler  of  force  contin- 
ues to  expand  its  powers  within  man  as  its  every  act  proclaims, 
where  shall  end  the  measure  of  its  accomplishment?  Who  shall 
presume  to  mark  the  circle  whose  lines  shall  form  the  limit  of  its 
possibilities?  What  is  there  to  stop  this  marvel  in  its  march 
from  easting  aside  our  present  and  ponderous  engines  of  science 
as  the  cumbersome  and  tedious  relics  of  an  inferior  past,  and 
thus  divesting  itself  of  all  complications,  step  naked  and  un- 
robed into  the  sacred  mysteries  of  nature,  and  grasping  omnisci- 
ent knowledge,  with  it  create,  simultaneous  with  its  wish,  an 
Aladdin's  palace  or  a  paridice's  garden,  without  labor,  contact, 
travail,  or  time,  and  thus  crown  the  full  triumph  and  glory  of 
mind  over  existence. 

Creeds  and  parties  are  fences,  corrals,  and  inclosures  which  men 
build  around  themselves  to  keep  out  thought;  or  they  are  teth- 
ers by  which  men  tie  themselves  as  unto  a  stake,  that  they  may 
wander  around  in  a  barren  circle  to  starve.  The  absence  of 
thought  is  a  grave. 

Nationalism  would  abolish  parties  by  making  our  people  one 
general  family.  To-day  the  race  for  power  and  place  is  really 
the  backbone  of  partyism, — the  "ins"  and  the  "outs."  National- 
ism, through  the  collective  administration  of  agriculture,  trans- 
portation, distribution,  and  manufacture,  would  change  private 
employment  into  public  office;  snd  as  all  institutions  would  be 
government  institutions,   all  effort  would  be  governmental,  and 


THE   ABOLITION    OP   PARTIES.  79 

all  would  be  working  for  the  government;  aud  therefore,  instead 
of  but  a  few  occupying  government  positions,  all  would  occupy 
government  positions,  and  all  would  be  in  office.  There  would 
then  be  no  "outs,"  for  all  would  be  "ins;"  and  the  principal 
cause  of  populor  division  and  the  real  basis  of  it  would  be 
absolutely  destroyed. 

CHAPTER    XXIX. 

THE    BALLOT   AND   CONVENTION. 

From  the  shadows  of  Europe's  palaces,  those  monuments  of 
personalism  and  spoliation,  a  stream  of  oppressed  humanity  pours 
into  America  to  escape  this  olden  reign  of  selfishness,  until  Amer- 
ica becomes  the  teeming  hive  of  a  refugee  humanity.  Refugees 
from  what?  Refugees  from  the  injustice  of  individual  rule.  And 
what  have  these  refugees  gained  by  coming  to  America?  They 
have  simply  gained  a  new  country  wherein  individualism  has  not 
yet  gobbled  up  the  rights  of  the  whole.  But  individualism  reigns 
in  the  new  country  as  in  the  old,  and  all  that  is  necessary  to  bring 
about  the  same  result  in  the  new  as  in  the  old  is  time;  for  what- 
ever owns  land,  air,and  light  will,  if  allowed,  own  man  as  well. 
At  present  writing  the  time  is  about  arrived,  and  the  conditions 
of  the  new  are  fast  assimilating  to  those  of  the  old. 

But  in  the  new,  collectivism  has  one  resource  to  restrict  individ- 
ualism which  it  has  not  in  the  old, — one  resource  though  which 
it  can  demonstrate  its  will,  and  establish  institutions  placing  the 
whole  above  the  part,  and  that  resource  is  the  national  "ballot." 
With  this  instrument,  humanity  can  face  individualism  as  with  a 
single  voice,  and  establish  the  rights  of  man  without  the  spill- 
ing of  a  single  drop  of  blood,  or  destruction  of  the  smallest  de- 
gree of  wealth,  or  the  slightest  harm  to  any  individual.  But 
nevertheless,  although  this  physical  possibility  is  enjoyed,  the 
mental  unfoldment  necessary  to  its  proper  use  is  yet  lacking. 

True,  this  ballot  is  not  yet  perfect  in  its  arrangement,  but  na- 
tionalism and  nationalists  will  yet  remedy  its  defects  so  that  it 
shall  yet  be  positively  guarded  from  the  ignorance  of  unevoluted 
individuality.  True,  this  ballot  allows  ignorance  an  opportunity 
to  cheat,  humbug,  and  defeat  itself,  and  should  be  amended  and 
improved  so  that  the  freeman  could  not  enslave  himself, — a 
strange  admission  of  ignorant  incapacity, — to  put  a  guard  around 
an  instrument  of  liberty  to  keep  a  freeman  from  enslaving  him- 
self,— an  inability  to  sustain  his  freedom  or  to  deal  with  its  imple- 
ments and  remain  free  unless  bolstered  up  and  swathed  around 
with  preventives. 

However  unpleasant  such  a  state  of  affairs  may  be,  it  is  the 
cold,  hard  fact, — a  fact  borne  out  by  our  political-convention 
system,  wherein  the  masses  either  acknowledge  their  political  inan- 
ition and  lifelessness  or  their  mental  incapability  to  form  a  choice 
for  themselves  as  to  who  shall  make  and  execute  their  laws.  The 
result  is,  that  upon  every  election,  muncipal,  state,  or  national, 
certain  obliging  persons  meet  and  call  themselves  a  "convention," 
and  proceed  to  form  a  list  of  persons  for  the  masses  to  vote  for, 
which  list  the  aforesaid  masses  duly  proceed  to  obligingly  vote 


80  THE  BALLOT  AND  CONVENTION. 

for  at  the  time  appoiated. 

The  ridiculousness  of  this  proceeding  is  bo  apparent  that  a 
smile  cannot  be  repressed, — millions  of  full-grown  men  gravely 
voting  a  list  of  names  not  chosen  by  themselves,  but  chosen  for 
them!  Why  not  let  the  choosers  of  the  list  of  names  cast  the 
vote  also? — the  casting  of  the  vote  being  merely  a  physical  form, 
the  outside  shell  of  the  politicial  nut,  while  the  choosing  of  the 
list  of  names  to  be  voted  for  really  forme  the  precious  kernel! 

Ah  I  but  I  hear  you  say  "that  there  are  more  than  one  list  of 
names  chosen  for  him  to  vote." 

Well,  I  care  not  how  many  lists  there  be  chosen  for  him  to  vote, 
a  list  of  names  chosen  for  him  is  not  a  list  chosen  by  himself, — 
selected  by  his  own  perception  and  judgment  from  among  his  fel- 
low-citizens,— and  it  is  therefore  an  insult  to  his  intelligence,  if 
he  has  that  peculiarity. 

"Political  conventions"  are  the  bane  of  American  politics; 
they  lay  coiled  like  a  serpent  in  our  public  system,  and  the  peo- 
ple's rights  are  like  birds  falling  into  their  snare.  In  these  beauti- 
ful and  obliging  associations  not  only  are  the  people  informed 
whom  to  vote  for,  but  a  set  of  principles  are  drawn  up  for  them 
to  espouse,  called  a  "platform,"  already  made  and  arrainged  for 
them  to  advocate,  and  thus  the  convention,  or  individualism,  not 
only  in  reality  appoints  all  the  collectivity's  agents,  but  does  all 
the  thinking  for  the  collectivity  as  well. 

If  there  were  no  political  conventions,  or  if  the  people  dis- 
carded them,  and  placed  no  person's  name  on  the  ticket  unless 
because  of  fitness,  and  not  because  of  conventions,  and  thus 
choose  from  their  own  judgment  the  name  of  whosoever  they 
consider  best  for  the  position,  then  the  days  of  political  parties, 
political  jugglery,  and  political  conventions  would  be  at  an  end  for 
once  and  for  aye. 

To-day  the  purchase  of  a  political  convention  by  personal  or  cor- 
porate interests  carries  with  it  the  purchase  of  all  the  voting 
millions  toho  vote  the  list  ivhich  the  convention  prepares. 

Upon  examination,  we  find  the  fault  not  to  lie  in  the  ballot, 
even  as  it  is  arranged  at  present,  but  in  the  ignorant  abuse  of 
this  great  and  grand  instrument  of  public  opinion.  But  the  pub- 
lic must  learn  to  have  opinions  and  candidates  of  its  own,  and 
not  the  opinions  and  candidates  of  a  convention  written  up,  fixed 
up,  and  arranged  for  them,  before  a  change  for  the  better  can  be 
brought  about. 

Political  conventions  have  nevertheless  at  times  represented  the 
wishes  of  the  people;  but  such  conventions  preformed  their  good 
work,  and  put  patriots  before  the  people  for  suffrage,  through  a 
tidal  wave  of  popular  demand,  a  wave  of  moral  and  iBtelligent 
ideas,  wherein  the  people  ruled  the  convention,  and  not  the  con- 
vention the  people,  demonstrating  the  fact  that  the  people,  under 
our  republican  from  of  government,  can  even  with  defective  ar- 
rangements, rule  if  they  so  wilk  For  the  present,  until  we  have 
nationalism  established,  let  the  people  run  the  conventions,  and 
not  the  conventions  run  the  people. 


LABOR    AND    POLITICS.  ,  81 

CHAPTER  XXX. 

LABOR    AND    POLITICS. 

The  cause  of  labor  is  the  cause  of  humanity.  Yon  cannot  sep- 
arate the  two. 

Labor  can  only  remedy  its  grievances  through  politics.  It 
must  raise  its  contemplation  from  its  several  specialties,  from  its 
several  trades  and  industries  into  which  it  is  divided,  up  to  the 
general  and  generic  cause  of  labor  as  a  whole.  This  can  only  be 
done  through  politics.  Labor  acting  as  a  trade  or  in  parts  is  nec- 
essarily weak  and  impotent;  labor  acting  as  labor,  although 
iinited  as  a  class,  is  also  necessarily  weak. 

Every  evil  which  every  special  branch  of  labor  suffers  under  is 
the  result  of  a  generic  cause,  which  equally  inflicts  all  branches 
alike;  and  for  one  branch,  or  for  one  trade  or  all  trades,  to  at- 
tempt to  remove  this,  is  an  attempt  by  such  to  remove  a  collec- 
tive evil  by  the  effort  of  a  part  or  a  few  parts  united.  True,  tem- 
porary relief  is  sometimes  achieved  by  the  unaided  efforts  of 
these  heroic  portions;  but  these  temporary  reliefs  are  generally 
achieved  at  terrible  cost,  and  generally  achieved  merely  tempor- 
arily, leaving  the  general  evil  to  soon  again  overwhelm  the  trade 
or  trades  in  the  common  infliction. 

In  Europe,  the  monarchial  institutions  taught  the  trades-peo- 
ple that  politics  was  a  thing  apart  from  the  cause  of  labor;  that 
the  battle  of  labor  was  against  labor, — against  itself;  that  labor 
should  only  organize  to  deal  with  the  several  branches  within  it- 
self,— should  only  deal  with  contractors,  apprentices,  and  labor- 
ers or  mechanics;  that  the  miseries  of  labor  wholly  result  from 
the  faults  of  its  individual  members;  thus  perpetuating  continual 
warfare  among  its  competing  members.  This  deceitful  teaching 
of  error  resulted  in  labor  confining  its  efforts  to  individual  antag- 
onisms, and  the  attraction  of  its  attention  and  contemplation 
from  the  generic  causes,  which  bring  about  the  condition  of  all 
alike,  and  create  the  very  anti-union  actions  of  the  very  anti- 
union individuals,  who  are  foolishly  deemed  the  cause  of  the 
troubles. 

Thus  the  monarchial  institutions  instructed  labor  to  organize 
exclusively  to  deal  with  individuals,  and  declared  that  questions 
of  governments  and  politics  were  above  their  business  or  their 
affairs.  This  instruction  was  also  enforced  by  law,  by  bayonets, 
and  by  dungeons.  So  to-day  we  find  the  same  folly  transplanted 
into  America,  and  everywhere  in  trades  organizations  politics  is  a 
debarred  topic,  and  is  declared  out  of  order, — politics,  the  only 
path  and  only  way  in  which  mankind  can  act  or  think  collec- 
tively. 

Ay!  leave  politics  to  the  aristocracy, — to  individualism, — and, 
my  good  people,  they  will  manage  it  for  you. 

The  only  way  for  labor  to  establish  any  real,  practical  relief  is 
to  comprehend  the  general  evil  and  the  general  relief.  And  the 
only  way  for  labor  to  reach  that  relief  is  the  declaration  of  its 
collective  comprehension  through  the  ballot. 

An  individual  can  express  opinion  by  speech,  motion,  or  writ- 
ing.   Society  can  only  express  opinion  through  ballot.    By  bal- 


82  LABOR   AND   POLITICS. 

lot,  it  informs  its  agents  of  its  desires,  and  elects  the  agents  as 
well.  Through  these  little  pieces  of  paper,  it  removes  a  dynasty 
from  power  more  effectually  than  through  revolution.  By  ballot, 
in  1884,  it  removed  a  party  from  power  that  had  been  entrenched 
in  the  citadel  of  public  office  for  a  quarter  of  a  century.  What 
more  positive  proof  could  we  have  than  this  of  the  efficacy  of  the 
ballot  as  far  as  an  instrument  for  the  expression  of  public  opin- 
ion is  concerned?  The  turning  of  powerful  cliques  out  of  office 
so  long  intrenched  in  power  certainly  demonstrates  that  popular 
opinion  reigns  in  America.  Labor,  then,  should  avail  harself  of 
this  opportunity.  Not  organize  politically  as  a  "labor  party,"  for 
that  is  individualism;  but  do  two  things, — educate  public  opin- 
ion to  the  consciousness  of  its  wrongs,  and  change  its  local  de- 
mands to  national  issues,  whose  establishment  would  bring  relief 
to  all  alike.  But  national  issues  are  politics  of  the  strongest 
kind,  and  no  politics  are  allowed  in  regular  labor  unions. 

Capital  whenever  wanting  aid  enters  politics,  and  there  is  not 
a  large  manufacturing  concern,  railroad,  telegraph,  water,  electric, 
gas,  oil,  steel,  gold,  bilver,  or  any  other  heavy  private  interest, 
which  does  not  find  it  needful  and  profitable— nay,  necessary  to 
its  existence — to  enter  politics.  Yet  labor  must  not  mention  pol- 
itics at  its  labor  clubs, — why?  Why,  if  a  monopoly  enters  politics 
to  elect  men  whom  it  nominates  at  the  conventions,  so  that  these 
men  when  elected  may  vote  thera  a  franchise  running  ninety-nine 
years  to  use  a  public  thoroughfare  for  street-cars,  cannot  labor 
also  raise  the  issue  to  give  no  franchise  for  the  purpose,  unless  the 
franchise  contain  a  clause  fijxing  the  hours  of  such  employees  and 
the  rate  of  their  pay?    Surely  labor  could  do  this  much  for  labor. 

Surely,  if  every  corporation  doing  public  business  and 
receiving  public  franchises  had  to  consent  to  labor's 
terms  before  they  could  proceed  with  business,  stocks 
and  bonds  would  be  receiving  less  of  the  profits,  and 
labor  more.  But  this  would  be  a  reform  within  the  present 
system,  and  I  do  not  offer  it  as  a  panacea,  but  merely  to 
show  the  open  road  which  labor  has  to  right  her  wrongs  by  the 
ballot,  if  she  so  chooses.  Even  under  the  present  system  of  in- 
dividual robbery,  the  glaring  inequality  of  one  man  receiving  a 
hundred  thousand  dollars  per  year  and  the  other  a  dollar  a  day 
could  be  altered  considerably  for  the  better,  if  labor  were  to  so 
will  it  at  the  ballot-box. 

The  condition  of  the  masses  of  mdustry  certainly  calls  forth 
anything  but  admiration  or  respect  for  themselves.  In  CJongress 
at  Washingthn,  or  in  that  which  they  call  the  loioer  house,  I  find 
not  one  representative  present  of  the  industrial  classes,  yet  the 
industrial  classes  are  a  power  at  the  ballot-box.  How  strange 
they  never  think  of  themselves  while  voting  the  convention 
ticket!  The  upper  house,  the  house  of  millionaires,  it  is  super- 
flous  to  say,  like  its  more  plebian  neighbor,  contains  no  member 
of  the  industrial  classes.  This  situation  demonstrates  labor's 
failure  to  recognize  either  itself,  its  political  equality,  or  its 
power.  The  future  of  the  industrial  masses  is  not  promising,  in- 
deed, unless  they  awaken  unto  the  truths  of  nationalism.  End- 
less competition  between  their  numerous  numbers,  a  competition 


LABOR   AND   POLITICS.  83 

which  coritinually  disunites  and  destroys  their  harmonious  rela- 
tions, and  causes  them  to  view  each  other  with  distrust  and  sus- 
picion, and  which  embroils  their  individuals  and  associations 
often  in  murder, — all  this,  combined  with  the  monotony  of  a  too 
prolonged  task,  heartless  compensation,  and  general  depressing 
surroundings,  serves  to  give  them  a  peevish  ill-humor,  and  the 
dangerous  tendency  to  lose  themselves  in  unnatural  excitements. 
This  has  been  our  experience  during  nearly  half  a  century  of 
hard  physical  labor.  Prohibitionists,  the  most  patriotically  in- 
clined of  all  reformers,  would  do  well  to  heed  this  passing  hint. 
In  no  way  could  the  moral  condition  of  the  industrial  classes  be 
benefitted  more,  in  no  way  could  intoxication  be  abolished  more, 
than  by  elevating  the  political,  social,  and  industrial  conditions 
of  the  toilers  of  our  country,  through  the  establishment  of  a  na- 
tional industrial  system,  which  would  yield  the  toiler  an  equal 
share  of  the  nation's  wealth. 

CHAPTER  XXXI. 

NATIONALIZATION   THE   BETTER   WAY — TRADES   UNIONS. 

That  our  state  of  enforced  competition  results  from  individual- 
ism, and  can  only  be  abolished  by  nationalism,  is  axiomatic. 

All  the  evils  which  trades-people  organize  to  encounter,  and 
vainly  struggle  against,  perpetually  as  it  were,  spring  from  this 
competitive  system  which  arises  from  the  reign  of  rampant  indi- 
vidualism, dominant  and  ignorant.  Strikes,  boycotts,  and  other 
movements  of  the  kind  are  but  temporary  in  effect,  ineffectual 
ultimately,  and  in  time  react,  and  bring  suffering  upon  their  pro- 
jectors, who  become  marked  men  for  individualistic  hate,  both 
from  their  disappointed  followers,  and  the  deep  prejudices  of  the 
enemy. 

All  which  unites  humanity  is  truth.  Whatever  disunites  them 
is  falsehood.  Nationalization  unites,  and  makes  a  common  cause, 
— a  movement  of  an  entire  nation  for  the  elevation  of  all.  Labor 
organizations  bring  feuds,  antagonisms,  criminations,  accusations, 
condemnations,  and  often  result  in  deadly  divisions  of  labor,  when 
their  announced  object  is  union. 

The  situation  sought  to  be  overcome  by  trades  unionism  is  the 
result  of  an  outgrowth  of  our  ruling  national  ideas.  The  masses 
are  in  harmony  with  these  very  ideas,  whose  evils  are  their  direct 
fruit  and  effects.  To  battle  against  these  evils  in  detail  or  in 
part  is  futile,  either  as  trades  unions  or  as  individuals.  You  must 
reach  up  to  the  idea  out  of  which  the  evils  arise,  and  there  you 
will  find,  not  only  its  vital  part,  but  its  iveakest  point  as  well. 
Nationalism  is  the  only  relief  from  these  evils,  and  the  only  pro- 
cess for  industry  to  adopt  to  effectually  succeed. 

Nationalism  is  the  only  process  whereby  labor  strikes  as  a  unit, 
and  not  in  parts,  where  there  are  no  "scabs,"  and  noorderings  out, 
but  merely  the  dissemination  of  the  knowledge  that  Uncle  Sam 
is  the  best  boss  in  the  world  to  work  for,  and  that  he  should  be 
the  only  employer,  i.  e.,  the  employment  of  the  people  by  them- 
selves. 

In  a  word,  while  trades  unionism  combines  but  several  trades, 


84  NATIONALIZATION   THE   BETTER   WAY. 

and  but  a  portion  of  each  trade  bo  combined,  and  stanos,  strug- 
gling as  it  were,  coldly  looked  upon  by  others  not  in  the  union, 
thus  undertaking  the  herculean  task  of  righting  national  evils, 
unhelped  by  the  major  part  of  society,  nationalism  places  every 
species  of  labor,  both  physical  and  mental,  an  ally  in  the  general 
cause,  and  the  general  public  becomes  a  solid  phalanx  for  the  ele- 
vation of  industry  standing  upon  the  plane  of  reason,  where  the 
artist  and  laborer,  the  union  man  and  the  scab,  the  contractor, 
boss,  and  apprentice,  become  molded  as  one  in  the  advocacy  of  a 
national  issue,  whose  triumph  elevates  all  departments  of  society 
and  every  individual  alike,  raising  the  entire  mass  at  once  and 
together. 

Trades  unions  and  all  similar  combinations  of  portions  of  society 
are  associations  of  individuals  seeking  protection  from  individual- 
ism in  unionism. 

Individual  selfishness  has  been  crushing  individual  rights,  has 
been  plundering,  oppressing,  starving,  murdering  individuals,  and 
the  victims  have  sunk  their  individualism  in  collectivism  for 
safety, — safety  from  personal  selfishness,  an  atrocious  monster 
who  bloats  upon  human  misery;  a  thing  whom  the  more  suffer- 
ing it  entails  the  more  demoniac  its  lusts.  Robing  itself  in  the 
stolen  glories  of  the  civilizations  it  rapes,  it  revels  midst  the 
splendors  of  art  and  science,  in  deadly  mockery  of  their  beauties, 
doomed  to  fade  and  perish  from  its  poisonous  contact.  Its  monu- 
ments along  time  are  the  fallen  columns  of  palaces  where  repiiles 
crawl  in  the  silence  of  the  ruins  it  has  left. 

And  trades  unionism  endeavors  to  protect  itself  from  this! — 
a  few  thousand  weary  toilers  rallying  around  the  cause  of  self- 
protection,  self-preservation  I  But  trades  unions  at  best  never 
reach  into  or  deal  with  causes,  and  are  but  as  jury-masts  at  sea, 
raised  over  a  storm-tossed  bark  for  immediate  safety,  that  it  may 
ride  the  tempest  until  the  storm  be  past;  but  tJiis  conflict  of  the 
elements  of  error  continues,  and  the  noble  civilizations  are  en- 
gulfed, and  these  temporary  preventatives  are  made  in  vain. 

But  nothing  is  lost;  and  the  failures  of  the  past  guard  the  suc- 
cesses of  the  present,  and  civilizations  after  civilizations  again 
arise  to  solve  the  task. 

Industry  cannot  protect  itself  as  a  part;  it  must  seek  its  pro- 
tection, and  can  only  find  it  in  the  protection  of  the  whole.  It 
must  lay  down  its  banner  of  labor,  and  raise  the  common  banner 
of  humanity.  No  movement  can  succeed  save  a  movement  of  the 
whole.    The  cause  of  the  whole  is  irresistible. 

Personal  evils  are  the  result  of  general  conditions,  and  general 
conditions  can  only  be  removed  by  movements  of  the  whole. 
Personal  liberty  is  the  topmost  rung  of  the  ladder.  We  get  there 
rung  by  rung;  but  we  must  climb. 

We  are  reaching  up  to  this  topmost  fruit  of  the  tree  of  social 
evolution;  but  we  are  not  there  yet,  nor  are  we  capable  as  a  whole 
of  being  there,  or  we  would  be  there;  for  capability  becomes  what 
it  is  capable  of.  Before  we  are  capable,  we  must  have  a  proper 
respect  for  each  other.  We  have  it  not  now.  Until  we  do,  indi- 
vidualism must  have  a  master.  That  master  must  not  be  an  in- 
dividual (a  king),  nor  a  set  of  individuals  (monopolists).     The 


NATIONALIZATION    THE   BETTER   WAY.  85 

people  as  a  unit  must  be  their  only  master.  This  is  nationHlistn 
pure  and  simple;  and  when  the  people  have  unfolded  into  a  proper 
respect  for  each  other,  then  every  band  and  contr(jl,  national  or 
otherwise,  fades  and  dissipates  of  itself;  for  dissolution  ever  dis- 
solves that  which  is  unnecessary. 

For  the  cultivation  of  individualism  up  to  the  respect  of  others, 
we  must  have  conditions  favorable  to  that  cultivation.  These 
conditions  we  call  nationalism, — a  state  of  society  where  the  indi- 
vidualities of  the  many  unite  as  one  to  enforce  the  real  rights  of 
individualism.  Yet  the  word  ^^enforce"  hardly  conveys  the  mean- 
ing; for  whatever  we  do  by  mutual  agreement  we  do  freely  of  our 
own  will;  therefore  nationalism  is  the  individualism  of  the  whole 
acting  as  a  unit  to  evolve  the  highest  condition  of  the  individual 
as  a  part. 

No  individual  can  surely  object  to  this, — none  who  considers 
the  future  unfoldment  of  its  own  individuality  to  its  highest  state; 
for  only  in  such  condition  can  the  personality  take  on  the  habili- 
ments of  greatness.  We  can  only  find  true  greatness  in  the  loss 
of  our  individuality  and  the  finding  of  our  universality.  When 
our  wisdom  and  our  love  become  universal,  then,  and  not  till  then, 
will  we  find  our  true  selves,  and  when  we  have'f-ound  that,  we  are 
free,  and  not  till  then. 

CHAPTER    XXXII. 

NATIONAL.   CO-OPERATIVE   CERTIFICATE. 

Were  industry  nationalized,  trades  unionism  would  cease,  be- 
cause the  cause  for  which  it  struggles  would  be  achieved,  i.  e.,  a 
just  compensation. 

Every  work  would  be  conducted  as  we  now  find  the  present 
national  mail  department, — conducted  by  the  government, — just 
as  we  now  find  the  erection  of  our  national  buildings  conducted, 
— just  as  we  now  find  the  numerous  species  of  skilled  mechanisms 
arranged  in  the  building  and  equipment  of  the  vessels  in  our 
national  navy-yards, — ay,  even  better,  as  the  system  prevailed. 

The  nation  erects  fine  and  stately  edifices  for  its  agents  without 
the  slightest  diflBculty,  and  in  nationalism  we  would  all  become 
agents  of  the  nation.  It  would  then  erect  all  our  palaces  (no 
hovels).  It  would  furnish  all  these  palaces  as  it  now  furnishes 
its  courts,  custom-houses,  army  quarters,  post-ofiices,  and  other 
edifices, — as  it  now  does  for  its  present  employees.  And  there 
being  no  contractor,  no  profit,  no  rent,  no  interest  on  money,  or 
any  other  sp^ies  of  capital's  siphonic  subtraction  from  wages, 
the  agent  would  receive  from  the  nation  the  full  equivalent  of 
his  service.  The  construction  would  be  all  time  service,  directly 
for  the  owner  (the  people),  and  all  the  hundred  and  one  absorb- 
ents who  now  receive  the  larger  percentage  of  what  the  artisan 
produces  would  find  their  apparatus  gone,  and  the  artisan  receiv- 
ing his  full  percentage,  there  being  no  institution  drawing  a 
single  mill  from  his  production.  In  the  present  individual  con- 
struction and  manufacture  of  things,  there  stands  between  the 
consumer  and  the  producer,  first,  the  individual  capitalist,  who 
takes  a  goodly  portion  of  the  value  of  the  thing  created;  then  the 


86  NATIONAL   CO-OPERATIVE  CERTIFICATE. 

landlord,  and  the  lightlord,  and  the  taxlord,  and  the  other  lords; 
then  the  manufacturer  or  employer,  who  takes  a  goodly  portion 
of  the  valuej^  then  the  wholesale  dealer,  who  takes  a  goodly  por- 
tion; then  the  jobber  jobs  his  portion  out;  then  the  retail  dealer, 
who  takes  whatever  pickings  he  can  extract,  for  the  profit  or 
margin  remaining  has  been  rapidly  reduced.  After  this,  then  the 
producer  receives  what  is  left  of  the  "turkey"  which  he  has  so 
carefully  raised  from  egg  to  full-sized  gobbler;  and  he  finds  that 
after  so  raising,  supporting,  and  preparing  the  bird  for  the  feast, 
cooking  it,  and  serving  it  up  ready  for  the  banquet,  he  has  re- 
ceived in  return  for  all  this, — what?  Bones!  Nothing  but  bare 
bones!  True,  there  may  be  a  little  odd  piece  of  gristle  left  here 
and  there;  there  may  be  a  small  piece  of  nutriment  iu  the  crevice 
of  a  bone  or  two, — a  small  piece  overlooked, — and  this  small  piece 
and  the  bones  are  what  is  termed  by  social  scientists, — (come 
closer,  ye  partakers  of  the  small  piece  and  the  bones;  let  me 
whisper  the  peculiar  and  mysterious  word  in  your  producing  ear), 
— this  small  piece  and  the  bones  are  termed  by  the  social  scien- 
tist "tuagfesl" 

The  same  identical  circumstances  apply  to  everything  labor 
now  produces  under  the  present  individualistic  system.  Between 
the  producer  and  the  consumer  stand  the  individuals  we  have 
enumerated  above;  and  when  the  produce  is  sold  to  the  con- 
sumer, from  the  price  received  is  deducted  the  interest  of  the 
capitalist,  the  profit  of  the  manufacturer,  the  percentage  of  the 
wholesaler,  and  the  margin  of  the  jobbers  and  the  retailer.  In 
all  this  there  is  added  the  rents  of  the  individual  landlords,  the 
rates  of  insurance  men,  interest  on  mortgages,  also  the  public  and 
private  taxes,  advertisements,  and  a  multitude  of  other  subtrac- 
tions, all  of  which  are  added  up  and  their  total  deducted  from  the 
price  paid  bp  the  consumer.  Whatever  is  left  is  thrown  to  the 
producer.  He  has  about  the  same  thing  left  generally, — bones, 
and  the  small  overlooked  piece  of  meat.  Sometimes  they  find  this 
small  overlooked  piece  of  meat,  and  devour  that  also.  Then  there 
is  a  row!  a  strike!  and  trades  unions  are  formed.  Formed  for 
what?  To  demand  the  small  piece  of  meat.  Why  not  raise  up  to 
a  greater  issue?  Why  not  demand  the  whole  turkey?  Why  not 
the  labor  of  these  United  States  inform  this  individual  who  sits 
first  at  the  feast,  and  who  takes  the  largest  slice  of  the  bird  and 
generally  all  the  tid-bits,  "Sir,  this  is  not  your  turkey"? 

Why  not  say  to  this  individual,  "Go  sir,  and  raise  turkey  for 
yourself"? 

And  as  he  astonishingly  replies:  "But  you  cannot  get  along 
without  my  devouring  your  turkey.  If  I  don't  eaT;  your  turkey, 
you  don't  get  my  capital.  Fll  not  allow  you  to  raise  turkey,  sir!" 
— inform  him:  "My  dear  sir,  sixty  millions  of  us  have  formed  a 
corporation.  We  have  pooled  our  issues  and  our  capital.  We 
have  formed  a  corporation  of  the  whole.  This  whole  will  supply 
us  a  co-operative  currency  without  interest;  hereafter  our  em- 
ployer is  the  whole,  and  this  employer  will  supply  us  with, 
employment,  and  demand  no  profit  or  interest.  If  you 
want  to  eat  turkey  after  this,  you  will  have  to  go  and  raise 
one,    or    go    and    make    or    perform  something  that  is  useful 


NATIONAL    CO-OPEKATIVE    CERTIFICATE.  87 

to  the  nation, — to  us,  the  people  and  the  nation,— then 
we,  the  people,  will  give  you  our  national-currency  measurement 
of  your  Bervice,  and  you  can  exchange  its  possession  then  for  an 
equivalent  value  in  turkey.  You  then  perceive,  my  friend,  that 
the  nation,  in  acting  as  my  capitalist,  my  employer,  and  my  mer- 
chant, allows  no  one  to  eat  my  turkey  without  first  in  return 
producing  for  my  turkey  my  turkey's  value  in  some  thing  or 
some  service  of  equal  value.  True,  under  these  circumstances 
you  receive  my  turkey  from  the  nation,  but  the  nation  has  given 
me  in  recognition  thereof  this  national  certificate  of  its  value,  and 
with  this  national  certificate  I  can  go  to  any  of  our  great  national 
stores  and  roceive  upon  its  return  the  very  thing  you  produced, 
or  any  other  thing  of  equal  value,  except  that  a  very  slight  in- 
crease will  be  added  for  the  purpose  of  paying  the  legitimate 
services  of  the  national  stores,  which  would  be  very  small,  for 
each  department  is  self-supporting,  and  is  based  upon  actual  cost, 
adding  merely  to  the  value  of  the  goods  interchanged  through 
these  national  certificates  only  the  actual  cost  of  handling,  which, 
although  small,  means  a  good  day's  pay  for  the  agents  of  our 
national  stores,  based  upon  the  wage  rate  of  all.  As  each  person 
is  one  share  of  stock  in  himself  in  this  national  corporation,  each 
draws  an  equal  dividend.  That  equal  dividend,  therefore,  is  the 
standard  of  wages,  or  the  total  production  of  the  nation's  wealth 
per  year,  divided  by  the  number  of  hours  of  all  employed  in  its 
production." 

Let  us  continue  this  suggestive  dialogue  between  these  two 
personages. 

The  banker  replies:    "Then  I  can  only  get  a  turkey  of  my  own 
by  either  raising  one  or  doing  something  equivalent  to  raising 
one?" 
•    "Yes,  sir." 

"So  you  are  going  to  run  the  machine  on  your  own  capital,  and 
stop  borrowing  mine?" 

"Yes." 

"How  did  you  bring  this  about, — by  a  strike?" 

'-No." 

"Boycott?" 

"No." 

"How  are  your  trades  unions  getting  along, — calling  each  other 
'traitors,'  as  usual?" 

"We  have  stopped  fighting  between  ourselves,  and  over  bones." 

"Well,  I  never  wanted  to  hurt  anybody.  You  see,  the  old 
mortgage  system  fixed  it  so  that  you  raised  turkey  and  got  bones; 
so  I  saw  the  point  of  raising  capital  and  eating  turkey!  You  see 
I  am  fat?" 

"O,  quite  fat,  and  I  am  quite  lean!" 

"Well,  what  am  I  going  to  do?  I  have  no  trade.  I  understand 
something  of  law.  If  you  want  to  cinch  somebody,  I'll  take  the 
case." 

"We  have  our  real  national  courts  run  at  cost  price.  We  have 
no  need  for  lawyers.  The  nation  furnishes  all  things  necessary  to 
decide  disputes.  As  our  land,  water,  air,  light,  finance,  manufac- 
ture, transportation,  express,  agriculture,  and  exchange  are  all 


88  NATIONAL,   CO-OPERATIVE   CERTIFICATE. 

collective,  and  not  personal,  we  have  no  personal  disputes  about 
!ihem.    We  hardly  ever  have  disputes." 

"Then  what  am  I  going  to  do,  if  you  have  no  borrowing  and  no 
fighting?" 

"You  can  write?" 

"Yes;  turn  a  pietty  fair  hand,  and  run  up  a  column  of  figures." 

"Well,  go  to  our  national  bureau  of  employment;  they  will  ex- 
amine your  qualifications,  and  set  you  to  work." 

"Workl  my  dear  friend,  that  is  a  hard  word  for  me." 

"Then  you  don't  get  any  turkey." 

"But  how  about  my  large  building,  the  bank,  and  my  other  in- 
dividual possessions?" 

"They  are  yours  still,  if  you  do  not  wish  to  enter  the  co-opera- 
tion of  the  nation.  The  nation  will  issue  you  its  certificates 
measuring  the  value  of  their  use.  You  will  receive  a  very  large 
compensation  for  a  while,  as  your  bank  may  be  used  as  a  national 
kindergarten  for  the  education  of  our  national  babies.  But  this 
will  not  last  long,  as  the  national  system  puts  all  who  seek  work 
to  work  immediately,  and  every  laborer,  mechanic,  engineer, 
architect,  and  scientist  is  at  present  building  the  national  cities 
of  the  nation,  and  as  this  work  proceeds,  the  superior  accommoda- 
tions of  the  new  will  leave  the  old  untenable,  and  when  that 
comes,  your  revenue  derived  from  the  old  structures  will  cease. 
You  perceive  we  hurt  nobody,  force  nobody,  nor  compel  any  one 
to  do  a  thing  distasteful  to  him." 

"What  about  these  new  cities  you  are  building?" 

"They  are  based  upon  the  plan  of  nature  and  her  rivers.  Our 
future  cities,  under  nationalism,  will  be  immense  arterial  national 
thoroughfares,  with  their  lesser  tributary  branches,  reaching  into 
our  territory  everywhere,  and  tapping  our  agricultural  and  man- 
ufacturing districts  everywhere.  Thus  our  population  will  be  as 
rivers,  reaching  everywhere,  and  not  as  now,  isolated  in  piled  up 
bunches  or  spots. 

"Our  principal  thoroughfare,  which  we  have  named  'National 
Aveaue,'  will  reach  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific.  Our  national 
engineers  have  already  surveyed  the  route, — a  straight  line. 
There  are  to  be  twelve  steel  tracks,  in  the  center,  in  the  national 
railroad  avenue  for  our  national  railroad,  giving  quick  transit 
along  the  entire  avenue,  and  carrying  us  at  cost  price,  at  which 
every  one  can  freely  travel,  while  the  operators  will  have  the 
national  pro  rata  of  the  annual  product  per  hour  per  employee, 
affording  time  for  mental  improvement  and  amusements.  The 
national  employees  engaged  in  constructing  this  road  will  receive 
the  labor  measure  of  their  time  in  the  national  certificates.  These 
certificates  will  be  received  by  the  railroad  back  again,  and  the 
same  measure  of  freights  and  fares  given  to  whoever  holds  them; 
they  will  also  be  received  at  every  other  national  department  in 
the  same  manner;  as  they  represent  upon  their  face  the  amount 
of  service  the  holder  has  performed  for  the  nation,  so  the  nation 
returns  the  same  amount  of  service  or  value  as  their  face  denotes. 
By  this  national  system  of  finance  we  will  build  the  great  road 
without  a  bond,  debt,  or  loan  from  any  individual,  without  a 
mortgage  or  interest;  it  will  all  be  done  directly  for  the  people  by 


'"!ATE. 


NATIONAL.  CO-OPERATIVE   CERTIFICATE.  89 

the  hour,  or  day's  work;  there  will  then  be  no  contractor,  and 
therefore  no  contract  protit  on  the  employees.  And  when  the 
road  is  done,  it  will  belong  to  the  people,  and  not  to  individual 
capitalists  or  private  bond-holders, — a  thing  which  could  not  be 
accomplished  through  any  other  means  or  by  any  other  process 
than  this  national  system  of  finance." 

"What  are  you  going  to  place  alongside  of  thes  twelve  steel 
tracks?" 

"I  am  coming  to  that.  This  railroad  avenue  will  be  five 
hundred  feet  wide;  there  will  be  an  avenue  on  each  side  of  this, 
each  respectively  five  hundred  feet  wide,  forming  elegant  broad 
double  thoroughfares,  adorned  by  foliage,  illuminated  by  our 
national  electric  lights,  and  flanked  by  continuous  national 
palaces,  within  which  the  corporation  shall  live,  not  die,  nor  linger 
as  they  do  now,  but  live!" 

"And  the  minor  streets?" 

"They  will  be  the  same,  merely  more  quiet  and  less  in  activity 
to  the  general  arteries,  through  which  will  pulsate  the  full  life- 
wealth  of  the  nation.  You  will  obsere  that  this  national  financial 
system  allows  full  individual  liberty,  there  being  no  revolting, 
barbarous  compulsion  of  the  individual  by  the  whole;  that  if  he 
wishes,  he  can  work;  and  if  he  does  not  wish  to  work,  he  need 
not.  He  merely  receives  nothing  if  he  produces  nothing,  and  the 
more  he  produces  or  the  more  service  he  yields  for  the  nation,  the 
more  he  receives  from  the  nation,  as  his  certificates  signify  the 
exact  units  he  has  given.  Nothing  received,  nothing  given,  is  the 
measure  for  measure  of  our  national  currency." 

O,  then  I  am  satisfied  if  there  is  going  to  be  a  square  deal. 
You  see,  I  am  an  individualist.  I  thought  you  were  about  get- 
ting up  something  which  would  wipe  out  my  identity, — give  no 
encouragement  to  my  energy;  put  me  on  par  with  a  drone,  and 
at  the  mercy  of  a  board  of  men  who  would  set  me  doing  some- 
thing which  would  be  disagreeable  to  my  nature,— in  fact,  turn 
society  into  a  sort  of  moral  Sunday  penitentiary.  I  love  my  free- 
dom! That  is  the  reason  I  became  a  banker;  for  if  1  did  not,  I 
had  to  become  a  slave.  But  now,  since  a  man  can  do  right  and 
remain  free,  count  me  in!  Are  you  sure  you  have  no  great 
sachemes  in  your  arrangement, — no  president  elected  by  a  select 
body  of  grave  and  reverend  seigniors, — no  wise  men  of  the  woods 
to  put  a  chalk-mark  upon  somebody's  back,  and  wave  them  off  to 
the  mills,  where  they  take  good  care  to  never  wave  themselves? 
Have  you  no  Roman  senators  by  some  other  name,  who  have 
risen  through  the  'I  am'  to  the  upper  chambers  without  popular 
suffrage,  but  who  have  gotten  there  through  the  'I  am'  suffrage, 
and  who  look  upon  popular  suffrage  (collective  expression)  as 
something  very  erroneous,  and  who  propose  to  destroy  individual 
egotism  by  elevating  it  to  a  self-elected  throne?" 

"No;  we  have  no  such  ancient  stupidisms.  All  men  are  gods 
with  us,  and  all  positions  are  controlled  and  elected  by  the  people. 
If  we  cannot  trust  our  collective  wisdom  and  love,  who  can  we 
trust?  To  look  to  individuals  instead  of  to  the  collectivity  is  the 
ill  we  are  flying  from.  It  is  folly  to  seek  to  place  the  individual 
in  any  manner  above  the  collectivity.    We  need  the  elevation  of 


90  NATIONAL.  CO-OPERATIVE  CEKTIPICATE. 

the  whole.  The  parts  can  only  be  great  through  the  greatness  of 
the  whole.  The  whole  in  its  greatness  is  God.  Liberty  and 
greatness  cannot  be  given  to  a  people  by  any  one.  They  must 
evolve  it  from  themselves,  and  to  do  this  must  rule." 

"Well,  then,  if  you  have  a  collectivism  that  will  not  interfere 
with  my  individualism  by  sticking  some  little  'me'  up  on  a  high 
pole  above  everybody  else, — a  collectivism  that  will  allow  individ- 
ual evolution  providing  it  evolutes  in  reciprocity  with  the  whole, 
—count  me  in.  I  am  tired  of  this  man-catching  business  of  mine! 
I  tell  you  what  I  will  do:  I  will  not  go  to  theemplopment  bureau. 
The  bureau  is  all  right  for  those  who  need  it;  I  will  find  my  own 
employment;  I  am  an  individualist,  upon  a  higher  plane,  how- 
ever. I  will  go  over  to  the  bank,  run  out  the  old  safe  into  the 
back-yard,  and  start  a  kindergarten.    What  do  yo  think?" 

"Capital  idea!  But  before  you  go,  sit  down  and  eat  some 
turkey." 

"What!  eat  your  turkey?" 

"O,  we  are  all  brothers  now,  and  you  would  do  the  same  to  me. 
I  am  only  too  happy  to  give." 

"All  right;  and  while  we  are  eating,  please  answer  me  these 
questions." 

"Yes;  there  is  nothing  like  lively  thought  and  pleasant  ideas 
while  eating.    I  believe  it  helps  digestion." 

"What  is  going  to  become  of  the  manufacturer,  who  used  to 
seize  upon  this  same  turkey  after  I  had  adjourned?  But  before 
you  answer,  take  a  piece  of  the  breast." 

"Thank  you.  It  is  the  first  time  I  have  had  breast  in  a  long 
while.    It  is  fine!" 

"Yes,  very  toothsome.  I  suppose  I'll  have  to  fall  back  on  the 
leg  or  wing  after  this  change;  but  then,  I  am  satisfied, — in  fact, 
never  was  so  satisfied  in  all  my  life;  and  I  think  every  man,  rich 
and  poor,  in  all  the  land,  will  be  satisfied  when  he  comes  to  under- 
stand it.  But  now,  then,  what  will  become  of  the  manufacturer?" 

"Well,  he  will  keep  on  just  as  he  is,  if  he  wishes.  But  as  our 
national  mills  get  into  working  order  he  will  discover,  not  a 
strike,  nor  a  boycott,  nor  a  trades  union  manifesto,  but  he  will 
discover  that  the  national  mill-hands  are  working  at  treble  the 
shifts  of  the  individual  mill-hands,  and  also  at  increased  compen- 
sation, which  compensation  he  will  find  steadily  rising,  because 
the  individual  profit,  rent,  and  interest  extracted  from  the  wages 
of  his  employees  are  all  added  into  the  wages  of  the  national  mill- 
hand.  There  being  no  wholesale  jobbers  nor  retail  profit  on  the 
sales,  he  will  also  discover  that  the  national  mill  goods  sell 
cheaper.  When  he  discovers  these  two  facts,  he  will  perceive  he 
cannot  afford  to  give  his  employees  the  short  hours  and  the  long 
pay  of  the  national  mills,  nor  can  his  individualistic  wholesale, 
jobbing,  and  retail  handling  system  compete  with  the  systema- 
tized handling  and  the  simple  distributing  principle  of  the  nation- 
al stores,  which  do  away  with  the  thousand  expenses  of  wholesale 
jobbing  and  retailing.  Thus  he  can  neither  manufacture  as  cheap 
nor  sell  as  cheap.  And  he  will  also  discover  that  his  goods  are 
inferior  to  those  of  the  national  mills.  Well-treated  labor  pro- 
duces well-treated  work.    Our  friend  the  individual  manufacturer 


NATIONAL.  CO-OPERATIVE   CERTIFICATE.  91 

will  have  to  close  down." 

"Well,  Bince  we  are  brothers,  I  will  tell  you  a  secret.  It  is  this: 
He  will  Dot  be  affected  in  the  slightest  detail." 

"No?" 

"No!  Itave  had  a  drag-net  mortgage  on  his  mill  ever  since  it 
was  built.  The  people  are  so  poor  under  the  present  system  that 
they  cannot  purchase  his  goods;  the  dealers  are  overstocked;  he 
has  cut  down  his  employees  to  their  lowest  notch  (unless  his 
deople  can  exist  on  air  and  debts),  and  this  morning,  before  I 
came  to  dine  on  your  turkey,  I  dined  on  his  mill.  You  see,  here's 
the  foreclosure." 

"Why,  bless  me!  that  is  the  regular  document, — seals,  red  ink, 
and  'Know  all  men  by  these  presents'!" 

"Yes;  this  is  the  document,  and  he  is  gone!  I  was  in  the  old 
system  then,  you  know,  and  foreclosures  were  like  gathering  up 
the  shells  on  the  shore." 

"Yes;  but  he  is  all  right.  His  vast  experience  in  the  upper  de- 
partments of  manufacture  is  very  valuable  to  our  national  mill 
system.  In  it,  every  man,  of  every  grade  of  talent,  find  more 
openings  than  they  can  fill;  for  in  the  national  system  of  industry 
the  demand  for  labor  is  always  ahead  of  the  supply." 

"Then  he  will  be  a  happy  man;  for  he  was  really  a  good  fellow 
at  heart,  but  the  system  ground  him  into  an  unnatural  attitude 
to  those  around." 

"Yes;  I  am  afraid  there  are  none  of  us  but  would  be  better  if  we 
had  better  enviornments.  We  are  all  good  fellows  at  center, — 
even  the  worst  of  us.     Evil  conditions  have  made  evil  men." 

"But  what  will  become  of  thewholesaler,  who  formerly  attacked 
this  turkey  of  yours  after  our  friend  the  manufacturer  got 
through?" 

"The  wholesaler  will  now  find  no  jobbers  and  retailers  to  handle 
his  goods,  as  all  goods  will  be  distributed  at  our  immense  national 
stores,  with  complete  display  of  each  and  every  variety  of  fabric, 
and  every  species  of  manufacture  systematized  into  different  de- 
partments, under  a  general  system,  as  we  now  find  in  our  mail 
department.  This  will  decrease  present  confusion  in  distribution, 
and  increase  the  opportunity  to  the  consumer  of  getting  the  very 
species  of  goods  desired,  and  at  such  an  immensely  decreased 
cost  that  individual  handling  of  goods  will  beoutof  the  question." 

"The  clerks  of  our  present  individual  shops  will  then  be  all 
government  employees,  I  see?" 

"Yes;  and  their  wages  will  be  based  by  the  government  statisti- 
cians, and  determined  by  the  yearly  production  of  the  nation's 
wealth  being  divided  by  the  total  hours  devoted  to  its  production. 
Whoever  devotes  one  hour  to  this  accumulation  is  therefore  en- 
titled to  that  unit  of  the  total  wealth,  thus  giving  each  producer 
the  exact  amount  of  his  production.  This  is  the  basis  of  our 
national  certificate.  The  wages,  therefore,  of  our  national  clerks 
would  be  many  times  greater  than  at  present,  and  as  we  do  not 
propose  to  let  any  one  go  idle  who  ivishes  to  partake  of  the  gen- 
eral wealth,  we  will  set  every  competent  person  who  seeks  a 
clerkship  to  work, — the  hours  per  day  would  be,  therefore,  few,  as 
this  system  employes  everybody,  and  divides  the  labor  unto  all 


92  NATIONAL,  CO-OPERATIVE   CEKTIPICATE. 

ae  it  divides  the  wealth  unto  all  who  wish  to  deservingly  partake 
of  it." 

"Then  these  clerks  would  receive  the  national  certificates,  re- 
cording their  unit  or  hour  shares  of  the  common  wealth?" 

"Precisely.  I  see,  having  been  a  banker,  you  comprehend  the 
simplicity  and  justice  of  the  system." 

"I  perceived  it  long  ago,  but  the  people  would  not  have  it;  they 
would  rather  work  for  us  than  for  themselves,  and  many  a  good 
man  they  put  down  for  endeavoring  to  teach  them.  But  there  is 
one  thing  you  must  explain,  and  that  is,  the  justice  of  this  divis- 
ion of  the  total  wealth  to  each  alike  who  produce  it.  I  see  you 
have  no  king,  no  president,  no  officer,  no  superior, — all  are  with 
you  equals.  Nothing  can  exist  and  endure  save  justice,  and  the 
people,  bless  them!  will  bave  nothing  which  they  do  not  perceive 
to  be  justice.  Would  it  be  justice  to  give  one  man  more  than 
another?" 

"If  you  gave  one  man  more  than  anorher,  that  would  be  in- 
justice. But  in  our  distribution  of  the  total  wealth,  we  give 
nothing;  we  merely  arrange  it  so  that  whenever  an  individual  de- 
serves, that  individual  shall  have;  so  the  drone  cannot  compel  his 
brother  unjustly  to  toil  for  him.  But  we  also  arrange  it  so  that 
all  can  help  themselves,  and  the  amount  they  help  is  recorded  by 
the  na'tional  certificates  they  hold." 

"Then  one  person  can  have  more  of  the  general  wealth  than  an- 
other.   Would  this  be  justice?" 

"Yes;  but  if  he  had  more,  he  would  have  to  make  it  himself ;  he 
could  have  only  that!" 

"Then  one  could  not  enrich  himself  at  the  other's  expense?" 

"Exactly.  We  must  establish  this  condition  before  we  ascend 
higher.  We  must  thoroughly  establish  justice  before  we  can  have 
the  reign  of  love." 

"But  would  it  be  justice  to  only  pay  the  head  of  a  department 
equal  to  the  foot, — to  pay  the  architect  of  a  building  only  equal 
to  the  excavator, — the  hewer  of  wood  and  drawer  of  water?" 

"The  very  essence  of  justice.  The  architect's  job  is  the  most 
attractive  and  pleasant;  it  is  remunerative  in  its  contemplations 
and  congenial  in  its  surroundings;  and  why  should  they  who 
enjoy  the  most  advantageous  positions  be  entitled  because  of 
their  advantage  to  receive  yet  further  superior  advantage.  Would 
not  this  be  according  to  the  logic  of  giving  the  most  to  those  who 
have  the  most?  If  any  one  ought  to  receive  more  than  another 
for  his  effort,  it  certainly  should  be  those  who  performed  the 
most  arduous  of  labor  and  the  most  disagreeable  task.  If  you 
had  choice  of  position,  would  you  not  rather  take  the  agreeable 
job  even  for  less  compensation  than  the  disagreeable?" 

"I  certainly  would.  But  is  not  the  head  more  intellectual  than 
the  foot;  and  should  not  the  most  intellectual  be  paid  the  most?" 

"Why?  The  brain  is  no  more  necessary  than  the  heart;  the 
one  is  the  department  of  intelligence,  the  other  the  department 
of  force;  one  cannot  exist  without  the  other;  the  building  could 
not  stand  without  the  foundation;  the  head,  without  the  legs;  all 
parts  are  interactional,  and  they  all  should  act  for  a  single  object, 
— the  good  of  all, — each  part  receiving  the  full  strength  of  the 


NATIONAL.  CO-OPERATIVE  CERTIFICATE.  93 

whole." 

"Yes;  I  am  now  satisfied  it  requires  every  effort  to  make  a  com- 
pletness;  that  every  part  of  the  structure  is  necessary  to  its 
entirety;  that  the  entire  being  should  hold  each  part  of  itself  in 
equal  estimation  to  have  equal  and  perfect  development." 

"That  is  the  idea  of  nationalism;  that  is  the  idea  which  creates 
symmetry  and  harmony  of  form;  it  is  this  which  produces  beauty 
and  health.  And  this  will  produce  a  beautiful  and  healthy 
society." 

"But  what  will  become  of  our  jobbers  and  retailers  under  your 
national  system  of  stores?" 

"Instead  of  waiting  all  day  long  for  the  poor  penniless  customer 
who  never  comes;  instead  of  counting  up  their  receipts  at  night, 
only  to  find  that  their  rent,  light,  clerk  hire,  clothing,  food,  taxes, 
and  other  expenses  amount  to  more  than  the  receipts;  instead  of 
retiring  dejected  and  worn  out,  weary  and  disheartened, — they 
Will  find  themselves  in  charge  of  fine  departments  in  our  national 
stores,  knowing  exactly  that  in  a  few  brief  years  their  rate  of 
compensation  will  enable  them  to  hold  national  certificates  of  the 
national  wealth,  representing  enough  to  enable  them  to  live  the 
remainded  of  their  days  in  affluence  and  ease,  or  in  the  higher 
pursuits  of  mental  attainments  and  mental  unfoldment." 

"But  if  they  wished  to  travel  abroad,  could  they  do  so  on  these 
national  certificates?" 

"You,  being  a  banker,  understand  and  can  answer  that  question 
best  yourself." 

"Yes;  I  merely  inquired  to  find  if  you  understood  it.  Your 
national  certificates  being  exchangeable  throughout  your  nation 
for  the  value  they  indicated  upon  their  face  for  every  species  of 
your  wealth,they  would  be  gladly  exchanged  for  foreign  drafts  upon 
any  banking  house  in  the  world  precisely  as  any  other  country's 
medium  of  exchange.  Of  course  you  are  aware  that  the  money 
of  one  country  is  not  the  money  of  any  other  country,  and  you 
have  to  exchange  for  a  foreign  draft  upon  some  banking  house  in 
the  country  to  which  you  are  going  in  order  to  have  that  country's 
money  when  you  arrive  there.  You  would  have  simply  to  do  the 
same  if  you  wished  to  travel  in  foreign  lands;  you  would  have  to 
take  your  national  certificates  and  receive  a  foreign  draft." 

"So  then  our  national  certificate  would  take  us  over  the  world?" 

"Certainly.  It  is  not  the  moneys  of  countries  which^  are  inter- 
changeable; it  is  merely  their  commodities." 

"I  see;  foreign  dealers  have  to  purchase  our  commodities 
through  our  form  of  exchange  the  same  as  we  do  through  theirs." 

"Now,  then,  another  question.  A  friend  of  mine  has  a  little 
cottage,  which  he  has  toiled  hard  and  long  to  possess.  I  know 
he  dotes  upon  his  little  home.  How  will  this  nationalization  of 
wealth  affect  his  little  cottage?  Will  it  take  it  from  him,  and  be 
placed  in  the  general  co-operation?" 

"No.  We  take  nothing  from  any  one  that  they  really  deserve. 
Whoever  builds  a  home  deserves  it.  Your  friend  of  the  little  cot- 
tage could  keep  his  little  cottage,  if  he  so  chose,  and  pass  his  days 
therein.  But  this  he  would  hardly  be  likely  to  do.  We  are  now 
erecting  immense  structures,  so  arranged  that  each  family  can 


94  NATIONAL  CO-OPERATIVE  CERTIFICATE. 

live  as  exclusive  as  they  could  desire.  These  structures  contaiQ 
the  latest  devices  for  the  preparation  of  food  and  cleansing  of 
g'arments  upon  a  plan  impossible  except  to  our  nationalization  of 
things.  The  food  and  garments  are  transmitted  to  the  apart- 
ments through  elevators  from  the  departments  of  preparations. 
The  families,  though  exclusive /if  they  so  desire  it,  can  enter  the 
general  halls  and  gardens  of  instruction,  amusement,  and  exercise. 
There  are  private  and  public  baths;  in  fact,  every  adjunct  neces- 
sary to  the  real  enjoyment  of  life.  We  find  no  obstacle  in  the 
creation  of  these  refinements  and  superior  accommodations,  as 
we  find  thousands  only  too  glad  to  get  an  opportunity  to  make 
them.  The  old  system  lield  men  back  from  doing  these  things; 
the  new  system  opens  up  to  them  full  opportunity  to  surround 
society  with  every  convenience,  comfort,  and  refinement." 

"What  are  you  going  to  do  with  the  doctors?" 

"In  this  condition  there  will  not  be  much  use  for  doctors;  the 
generation  raised  in  nationalism  will  have  no  use  for  them  what- 
ever. However,  until  nationalism  is  thoroughly  effected,  we  will 
district  the  territory,  and  appoint  physicians  at  the  same  per-hour 
compensation  as  all  for  the  number  of  hours  decided  upon  by  the 
statisticians  as  a  day,  or  rather  what  we  designate  as  a  shift;  there 
will  be  a  doctor  for  each  shift,  so  as  to  give  a  health-watch  during 
the  entire  twenty-four  hours;  they  can  alternate  shifts  so  the 
service  shall  be  alike  unto  all.  This  shift  process  and  alternating 
shift  will  be  the  prevailing  rule,  saving  that  all  labor,  save  that 
which  is  extsemely  necessary,  shall  be  adjourned  for  the  day  at 
three,  p.  m.,  enabling  the  people  to  enjoy  the  remainder." 

"I  observe  that  you  set  every  one  to  work." 

"Not  set  them  to  work,  but  open  the  opportunity.  Man  is  a 
natural-born  worker;  he  cannot  remain  idle  and  be  contented.  If 
men  do  not  work,  it  is  either  because  they  cannot  get  it  to  do,  or 
cannot  get  the  special  branch  to  which  they  are  accustomed  or 
fitted,  or  because  they  have  become  disheartened  through  unjust 
compensation.  Man  is  a  noble  animal;  and  will  treat  you  nobly 
if  you  BO  treat  him;  but  he  is  terrible  if  wronged." 

"Now,  another  question,  and  I  believe  it  is  one  that  will  no 
doubt  tax  you  to  your  utmost.  You  say  you  will  rent  my  sturc- 
tures  until  you  build  your  national  palaces;  you  then  recognize 
my  proprietorship  in  the  land?" 

'■'No." 

"Then  where  is  my  right." 

"In  the  improvements.  Your  improvements  harm  no  one.  We 
touch  nothing  that  harms  not.  Your  buildings  are  beneficial  just 
at  present,  but  may  become  worthless  in  the  presence  of  our 
superior  accommodations." 

"Then  land  monopoly  is  doomed?" 

"Doomed!  We  recognize  no  proprietorship  in  land.  We  can 
nowhere  find  any  basis  of  title.  We  find  land  bought  and  sold, 
but  that  does  not  prove  title.  If  you  had  a  valuable  horse,  and 
you  discovered  it  in  the  possession  of  a  person  who  explained  to 
you  that  his  possession  was  sound  and  true  because  he  had  pur- 
chased it,  you  would  inform  him  that  the  person  of  whom  he 
purchased  could  convey  no  title;  a  million  such  persons  could 


NATIONATi  CO-OPEBATIVE  CERTIFICATE.  95 

convey  no  title,  as  they  merely  sold  that  which  did  not 
belong  to  them.  The  earth  belongs  to  man,  for  him  and 
his  heirs.  The  idea  of  attempting  to  rob  the  millions  unborn  of 
their  heritage  is  the  essence  of  outrage!" 

"Then  what  are  you  going  to  do  with  the  land  monopolist?" 

"Let  him  alone.  He  can  enter  the  corporation,  and  become  one 
share  of  stock  if  he  wishes.  If  he  wishes  our  national  certifi- 
cates, he  can  work  for  the  nation,  and  become  the  possessor  in  the 
degree  he  works.  For  this  is  not  the  kind  of  thing  through  which 
he  can  become  a  millionaire  and  neither  work  nor  allow  others  to 
work." 

"What  will  you  do  with  the  land  these  individuals  claim?" 

"What  would  you  do  with  the  air  around  you  if  an  individual 
should  tell  you  to  hold  your  breath, — that  it  was  his  air, — 
hold  your  breath  until  you  paid  him?  You  would  breathe! 
and  that  would  be  your  answer.  I  am  not  in  favor  of  insane 
asylums,  but  there  should  be  some  kind  of  mild  infirmaries  for 
such  cases,  for  these  unfortunates,  who  have  gone  draft  on  the 
little  me,  and  who  imagine  that  they  own  the  air  or  the  earth,  or 
a  part  of  them.  Such  should  be  bibbed,  presented  with  a  huge 
trough  of  sops,  and  sent  to  play  with  little  globes  or  marbles  the 
remainder  of  their  days, — precious  little  dears!" 

"But  what  will  the  nation  do  with  land  monopoly?" 

"This:  the  national  commissioners  will  examine  into  the  per- 
son's case,  and  if  satisfied,  will  give  a  full  certificate  to  any  subject 
of  earthophobia.  This  Mr.  Doublegall,  who  is  he?  Let  us  see 
him;  let  him  stand  forth, — he  who  says  he  owns  the  earth!" 

"Now,  let  us  return  to  the  subject  of  individual  liberty  again; 
for  it  is  my  hobby.  You  do  not  propose  to  make  every  one  work 
until  he  is  forty -five,  and  then  put  him  on  the  shelf  to  order  the 
others  around?" 

"We  certainly  do  not;  we  mafce  no  one  do  anything.  The  nation- 
al certificate  does  that;  for  if  you  do  not  work,  you  do  not  get  the 
certificate;  and  no  certificate,  jou  know,  no  turkey!  But  this 
idea  of  mafce  and /orce  is  all  wrong  applied  to  man.  Give  man's 
goodness  an  opportunity.     You  need  do  no  more." 

"Yes;  I  would  hardly  like  anything  which  said  I  must  work  up 
to  a  certain  age,  or  said  I  viust  quit  after  a  certain  age.  I  am  one 
of  those  active  fellows  who  deems  himself  a  mere  chicken  at  sixty, 
— just  getting  his  tail-feathers.  That  might  be  age  for  the  old 
system,  but  it  is  mere  babyhood  for  the  new.  Why,  I  think  I  feel 
just  like  starting  in,  and  I  am  fifty.  When  human  effort  is  treated 
right,  recognized,  and  appreciated,  we  will  labor  for  the  pure  love 
of  it,  and  nothing  can  stop  our  helping  hands." 

"We  restrict  you  in  nothing  except  criminality;  we  allow  you 
full  scope  for  your  individuality,  and  only  restrict  you  in  infringe- 
ment upon  the  scope  of  another." 

"That  is  what  suits  me  about  your  national  tertificate, — it 
allows  individual  liberty.  Liberty  is  sweet.  I  would  not  enter 
heaven  if  I  had  to  leave  my  liberty  behind.  I  am  a  bird  of  the 
forest.  True,  I  am  environed  with  disaster;  still,  I  would  not 
accept  safety  in  a  gilded  cage.  But  if  your  heaven  contains 
liberty,  then  will  I  gladly  enter;  for  there  can  be  no  heaven  for 


96  NATIONAL  CO-OPERATIVE  CEKTIPICATE. 

me  which  does  not  contain  individual  liberty." 

"Yes;  but  you  will  have  to  establish  collective  liberty  to  get  it; 
you  will  have  to  sink  your  individual  selfishness,  restore  your  in- 
dividual relationship  to  the  whole,  and  return  to  the  bosom  of  the 
common  family,  to  which  you  belong.  Then  you  will  find  your- 
Belf  home,  and  'there  is  no  place  like  home.'  Let  us  all  come 
home, — home  to  our  father,  Uncle  Sam." 

CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

TRUSTS. 

When  the  cattle-men  wish  to  have  the  bovines  completely  in 
their  power,  when  they  wish  to  have  them  ready  at  any  moment 
for  slaughter,  they  gradually  close  in  around  the  innocently 
browsing  herd,  and  work  the  doomed  creatures  into  what  is 
known  as  the  corral.  Now  a  trust  is  a  corral,  or  trap,  into  which 
the  innocently  browsing  public  are  worked.  True,  the  people 
are  not  actually  slaughtered,  but  when  every  avenue  of  escape 
has  been  closed  against  them,  and  they  are  safely  in,  then  the 
trust  proceeds,  and  they  are  shorn  like  sheep,  plucked  like 
geese,  squeezed  like  lemons,  skinned  like  calves,  fried  out  and 
tried  out  of  every  particle  get-at-able.  Poor,  poor  browsing 
bovines!  poor  sheep,  geese,  lemons,  and  calves  of  the  trusts^ 
why  not  stop  this  idiotic  state  of  affairs?  You  sit  down  to  your 
supper,  and  a  trust  controls  the  cost  of  the  chair  upon  which 
you  eit;  another,  the  cost  of  the  eating-tools  which  you  are  about  to 
handle;  another,  the  cost  of  the  ceffee  in  your  cup;  another,  its 
sugar;  another,  the  delf;  another,  the  table-cloth;  another,  the 
salt;  another,  the  flour  in  your  bread;  another  has  corraled 
millions  upon  millions  of  acres,  upon  which  cattle  browse, — the 
very  cattle  from  whence  must  come  your  beef, — and  so  has  fixed 
the  cost  of  the  food  upon  your  table;  another  has  fixed  the  cost 
of  the  water  in  your  kettle;  and  from  your  boots  to  your  hat,  and 
over  and  around  your  body,  and  thence  out  over  your  table  and 
around  the  room,  taking  in  your  stove  and  all  thereon,  a  trust 
has  placed  his  net  upon,  surely  controlled,  and  extracted  extor- 
tion from  your  rapidly  flattening  purse,  before  you  could  enjoy 
these  advantages  of  civilization.  Go  to  your  couch,  and  upon 
the  sheets  you  uneasily  slumber  a  tithe  has  been  levied, — levied 
upon  the  blankets,  pillows,  bedstead,  and  mattress,— everywhere, 
and  over  your  dreams  as  over  your  wakings,  this  genie  of  extor- 
tion, this  brigand  of  commerce  over  human  necessities,  hap  stood 
before  every  avenue  of  existence,  and  cried,  "Your  money  or  your 
life!" 

O  America!  Why  not  cast  off  these  bonds,  and  own  yourself? 
Why  not  have  the  nation  own  and  control  the  necessities  of  its 
citizens?  Why  not  put  an  end  to  this  foot-padding  of  commerce 
by  trusts,  who, wearing  the  mask  of  co-operation,  stops  your  stage- 
coach of  progress,  and  plunders  its  passengers  upon  every  turn 
along  the  road  of  life?  Think  to  what  this  will  come  if  permit- 
ted, and  come  it  must  if  the  system  is  allowed  to  prevail.  Think, 
if  consolidation  upon  consolidation  of  railroads  continue,  and 
road  continues  to  be  swallowed  by  road  until  one  vast  corporate 


TRUSTS.  97 

machine  controlled  by  a/ew  individuals  prevails, — one  vast  net- 
work of  rails  stretching  from  hamlet  to  hamlet,  town  to  town, 
city  to  city,  everywhere  throughout  the  land,  north,  south,  east, 
and  west,  taking  in  every  mountain,  every  valley,  crosssing  every 
streamlet,  every  river,  spreading  out  over  an  entire  population 
laying  trapped  and  entangled  like  struggling  flies  in  its  spider-web 
of  steel.  Where,  O  where,  then,  will  be  your  boasted  liberty's* 
Where,  O  Where,  will  be  your  courts  and  your  con- 
gresses, your  juries  and  your  judges?  Where  then  will  be  jiour 
freedom  of  speech  and  your  license  of  press?  Ay!  where  then 
will  be  your  individual  liberty  in  this  collective  serfdom?  Look 
to  it,  Americans! — look  to  it!  With  a  power  like  this,  a  net-work 
like  this,  around  your  industries,  commerce,  science,  art,  religion, 
and  politics, — then  struggle,  struggle,  struggle,  if  you  dare!  You 
will  be  in  the  net.  The  spider  does  not  allow  his  victim  to  strug- 
gle long.  Your  thinkers  will  be  driven  to  the  wall,  your  patriots 
to  digrace,  your  genius  into  subserviency,  your  courts,  congresses, 
into  automaton  tools;  and  you,  the  people,  you,  the  American 
race,  into  the  poor  miserable  caricatures  of  humanity,  such  as 
now  crawl  half  naked  and  less  fed  within  the  shadows  of  the  fall- 
en columns  of  India's  ruins.  Robbery  brutalizes  both  robber 
and  victim;  and  to-day,  throughout  our  land,  these ^'trust"  repre- 
sentatives are  debauching  our  sons  and  daughters  with  the  ill- 
gotten  plunder  of  their  system. 

They  are  fostering  gilded  dens  of  infamy  to  contaminate  our 
women,  and  sustaining  so-called  athletic  organizations  for  the  in- 
culcation of  brutality  among  our  men.  The  two  extremes  of 
error  meet,  and  the  trust  folk  embraces  the  convict  folk.  Prize- 
fighting is  inaugurated  inorder  to  further  criminalize  and  weaken 
the  great  body  of  our  really  virtue-loving  people.  Our  daily 
press  teems  with  sickening  accounts  of  brutal,  inhuman  conflicts 
ridiculously  termed  ''the  manly  art  of  self-defense," — as  though 
brutal  conflict  could  be  in  any  degree  manly, — until  this  beastly 
art  of  self-defense  is  so  held  up  before  the  minds  of  our  dear  boys 
that  everywhere  the  little  victims  of  these  villianous  teachings 
are  looking  forward  to  brutism  instead  of  manism.  The  morality 
of  a  community  once  debauched  falls  an  easy  prey  to  slavery;  for 
only  can  he  or  she  dream  or  battle  for  liberty  whose  mind  and 
whose  life  is  pure.  To  debauch  the  minds  of  the  community, 
therefore,  is  the  aim  of  the  trusts,  in  order  to  crush  out  the  spark 
&f  virtue,  which,  if  once  aroused,  abolishes  the  scheme  of  these 
prize-fighting  prostitution  manufacturers,  and  our  trust-ridden 
and  our  vice  debauched  land  will  become  free.  In  touching  upon 
these  things,  I  know  the  power  I  have  to  face;  but  from  it  I  turn 
to  my  country,  to  the  reader  who  reads  this, — you,  and  your 
name  is  "legion,"— you  must  support  this,  for  in  doing  so,  you 
support  yourself.  The  opposition  is  a  power,  but  nothing  to  your 
power.  Spread  these  truths  over  the  land,  and  they  shall  prove 
more  terrible  to  wrong  than  an  army  with  banners.  Will  you, 
reader  do  it?    "Yes." 

Note. — Id  dealing  with  this  qaestion  of  trusts,  wo  do  not  refer  to  personal- 
ities, or  condemn  individually  their  personal  factors ;  for  our  individuad  na- 


98  TELEGRAPH   MONOPLY. 

CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

TELEGRAPH   MONOPOLY-. 

The  telegraph  lines  of  the  nation  are  to  it  what  the  nerves  are 
to  the  body.  It  is  a  piece  of  crude  absurdity  for  these  lines,  or 
public  nerves,  to  be  controlled  by  different  individuals  for  differ- 
ent objects  from  different  parts  of  the  country,  instead  of  being 
controlled  by  one  general  head,  one  general  brain,  and  for  one 
single  interest, — the  nation. 

Being  the  nerves  of  the  nation,  they  should  belong  to  it  col- 
lectively, and  be  controlled  and  directed  from  its  central  execu- 
tive station  at  Washington.  As  these  lines  are  controlled  and  di- 
rected at  present,  our  nation  resembles  the  condition  of  a  man 
whose  nerves  are  not  under  his  brain  control;  but  under  the  con- 
trol, as  it  were,  of  different  conflicting  portions  of  his  anatomy, 
converging  and  crossing  in  all  directions;  and  instead  of  convey- 
ing the  necessary  intelligence  from  the  center  to  the  parts  of  the 
structure,  conveying  confused  controls  from  the  different  parts 
themselves,  producing  spasmodic,  exhaustive  action,  convulsing 
and  racking  his  frame  with  movements  purposeless  and  contrary 
to  his  own  volition, — a  pandemonium  of  brain  forces  scattered 
through  a  cataleptic-racked*body.  This  is  the  present  economy 
of  our  telegraphic  system.  And  if  it  were  to  be  continued,  cata- 
lepsy, private  as  well  as  public,  would  inevitably  end  the  drama 
of  this  national  man,  whose  feet,  legs,  body,  arms,  and  hands  are 
beyond  the  control  of  his  head, — in  fact,  who  is  out  of  his  head. 
When  the  industrial  departments  of  American  society  are  govern- 
mental, as  they  should  be,  when  transportation  and  distribution 
are  governmental,  as  they  should  be,  then  Washington  will  be  the 
central  point  of  general  direction  of  the  circumferential  depart- 
ments of  construction,  and  reports  from  these  extremities  will  all 
converge  and  center  there,  producing  the  general  knowledge  nec- 
essary at  headquarters  to  the  working,  accomplishment,  need  and 
all  other  information  necessary  to  a  united,  relational  working  of 
the  entire  structure;  then  the  telegraph,  being  nationalized,  will 
occupy  and  serve  its  national  function  of  conveying,  as  do  the 
nerves  of  the  body,  the  intelligences  between  the  executive  and 

tares,  iaclinations,  and  thonghts  are  irresistibly  shaped  and  molded,  and  we 
made  to  act  ami  embody  the  ideas  of  that  portion  of  society  into  which  we 
are  cast,  and  which  we  therefore  represent,  whether  high,  mediary,  orlow; 
and  1  would  as  soon  confide  the  truths  of  this  work  to  the  individuals  of  one 
class  as  to  the  individuals  of  another;  and  I  expect  to  meet  and  to  find  as 
much  co-operation  and  as  much  antagonism  from  the  members  of  one  section 
as  from  another.  Eveyrwhere  in  all  directions  we  find  the  human  and  the 
ANIMAL,  and  neither  rich  nor  poor  having  a  franchise  upon_  virtue ;  but 
throughout  the  entire  body  politic  we  find  virtue,  like  gold  in  our  rocks, 
scattered  here  and  there  in  seams,  and  often  gleaming  forth  in  the  least  ex- 
pected places,— ay,  and  true  pure  gold  at  that.  I  therefore  direct  thought 
only  to  the  system;  we  are  all  society;  we  are  all  responsible  when  we  con- 
template ideas,  not  it  or  they.  We  should  be  the  single  and  only  trust,  all 
stockholders,  each  and  every  member  of  this  greatnational  family  of  ours  in 
which  we  are  all  brothers  and  sisters.  Trusts  and  their  individuals'  individ- 
ual actions  are  the  outcome  of  the  present  condition,  not  the  fault 
OF  their  proprietors  The  dying  saint,  as  individuals  cruelly  stoned  him 
nnto  death, feeling  and  knowing  the  high  truth  underlying  this,  ere hedied  ex- 
claimed: "Lord,  lay  not  this  sin  to  their  charge."    Acts  vii.  60. 


TELEGRAPH   MONOPOLY.  J'J 

productive  parts  of  the  social  structure;  then  Uncle  8aiu  will 
cease  to  have  the  epilepsy,  and  find  himself  moving  with  an  un- 
derstanding and  purpose. 

Under  government  telegraphy  we  would  have  our  messages  at 
cost  price,  as  we  now  do  our  government  mail.  The  operators 
would  have  shorter  shifts  and  better  compensation,  and  telegraphy 
would  ascend  immeasurably  as  an  important  adjuct  of  civiliza- 
tion. Being  governmental,  one  of  the  powerful  factors  influenc- 
ing legislation  would  then  be  removed  from  existance;  a  vast  vor- 
tex through  which  flows  our  public  wealth  into  private  coffers 
would  be  removed  from  power,  to  no  longer  corrupt  our  public 
agents,  control  elections,  and  gerrymander  returns.  The  present 
vast  accumulations  of  millions  by  telegraph  proprietors  have  all 
been  collected  through  excessive  rates  to  their  patrons.  If  these 
rates  had  been  based  upon  actual  cost,  the  millions  which  have 
been  thus  made  would  have  remained  in  the  posession  of  the  peo- 
ple. Every  telegraph  operator  shotild  be  an  advocate  of  the 
governvieiit  telegraph  system  proposed  /te?'eui,because  the  govern- 
ment would  increase  the  service  manifold,  add  improved  features 
and  more  systemized  working.  This  would  increase  the  demand, 
and  open  up  broader  opportunity  to  the  operators,  not  to  men- 
tion better  pay  and  less  hours.  Every  A  merican  who  loves  the 
future  greatness  of  America  should  work  to  his  end, — should 
work  for  national  telegraphy.  Under  national  control,  innumera- 
ble improvements  now  held  in  abeyance  would  be  added  features, 
— features  now  suppressed  by  the  unprogressive  "dollar."  Every 
electrician  who  loves  his  or  her  science  should  lend  their  enthu- 
siasm to  this  issue.  Come,  Americans!  let  us  Americanize  our 
lightning. 

CHAPTER  XXXV. 

NEWS   MONOPOLY. 

For  the  individuals  who  run  the  press  as  it  is,  we  have  no  word 
of  condemnation.  They  and  their  press  are  what  the  system  has 
made  them.  In  fact,  even  as  it  is,  we  have  frequently  met  with 
splendid  articles  in  advocacy  of  collective  jjroprietorship  published 
by  leading  journals,  plainly  indicating  that  the  writers  of  the 
articles  stand  ready  and  willing  to  write  for  popular  control  of 
public  necessities  whenever  the  people  themselves  are  ready  to 
patronize  the  advocacy  of  their  own  interests;  again  plainly  indi- 
cating that  the  education  of  the  masses  up  to  a  clear  understand- 
ing of  the  idea  is  all  that  is  necessary  in  the  premises,  and  not 
the  abuse  of  individual  press  proprietors. 

Under  the  present  system  of  newspaper  monopoly,  preserved 
through  vast  fortunes  invested,  there  can  be  no  independant  press 
in  the  populous  metropolitan  centers.  An  independant  newspaper 
is  totally  out  of  the  question.  True,  there  may  be  a  large  daily 
in  a  large  city,  independent,  as  far  as  its  individual  proprietor  is 
concerned,  to  a  certain  limited  extent;  but  the  extent  of  its  inde- 
pendence, even  so,  is  limited  indeed,  considering  the  wealthy 
patronage  and  corporation  advertisements,  all  of  which  force  the 
paper  in  the  persuance  of  these  private  interests,  in  the  advocacy 


100  NEWS   MONOPOLY. 

of  a  line  of  duty  detrimental  to  the  public  good. 

In  examining  into  the  condition  of  the  press,  we  remember 
journal  after  journal  which  appeared  and  disappeared, — journals 
which  entered  upon  the  arena  of  metropolitan  journalism  with 
every  augur  of  success,  with  seemingly  a  sufficiency  of  backing 
every  way  discernible,  and  yet  which,  after  a  few  brief  editions, 
went  down  into  the  bottomless  pit  of  newspaper  failures.  People 
who  believed  in  their  doctrines  and  principles, — people  who  were 
heart  and  soul  in  every  idea  advocated  in  their  colums,  and  who 
were  almost  fanatical  devotees  to  these  ideas, — strange  to  say,  when 
it  came  to  subscribing  for  such  papers,  turned  strangely  around 
and  subscribed  for  the  blanket  sheets  of  those  whom  they  termed 
and  deemed  "the  enemy.".  Now  why  was  this?  Why  did  they 
not  support  the  papers  of  their  own  ideas,  and  why  thus  support 
the  papers  of  the  other  side?  The  reason  is  simply  this:  they 
subscribe  for  the  papers  whose  editorial  principles  they  detested 
because  such  papers  contained  the  telegraphic  news  of  the  world 
and  of  the  country.  They  must  have  a  viewspaper.  The  journals 
of  their  own  ideas  were  not,  and  could  not  be,  this.  Now  why? 
Because  of  our  individual  telegraphic  monopoly.  The  Associated 
Press  dispatches  are  not  available  to  reformatory  journals.  Only 
concerns  of  immense  corporate  and  individual  wealth  figuring 
up  into  the  millions  can  tap  the  wires  of  information  and  publish 
its  contents  to  the  millions. 

So  the  reformatory,  enterprising  press  of  popular  ideas  is  every- 
where handicapped  at  the  outset,  and  doomed  to  struggle  along 
with  few  subscribers,  and  yet  fewer  advertisers;  for  business  will 
not  advertise  where  people  do  not  subscribe.  And  thus  it  is,  no 
telegraphic  news,  no  subscribers,  no  subscribers,  no  advertisers;  no 
advertisers,  no  reform  metropolitan  journal;  and  no  reform  metro- 
politan journal,  no  reform. 

The  remedy,  and  the  only  remedy,  for  this  state  of  affairs, 
whereby  this  monopoly  of  news  would  be  annihilated,  whereby 
the  poorest  paper  in  the  land  would  receive  telegraphic  dispatches 
at  the  same  cost  precisely  as  the  richest,  whereby  the  sources  of 
of  information  would  be  open  to  every  journal  in  the  land  alike, 
and  closed  to  none,  whereby  the  news  would  be  delivered  at  cost 
price,  and  so  become  available  to  the  slimmest  editorial  purse,  lies 
in  government  telegraphy!  Ay,  my  countrymen,  if  you  would 
have  a  free  press,  you  must  have  a  free  telegraph  system,  run  by 
the  country,  run  for  the  people  at  cost  price,  and  open  to  each  and 
all.  If  you  had  this,  then  your  struggling  reform  paper  would 
come  out  with  the  daily  telegrams  in  the  morning,  and  your  re- 
form thinker  would  find  his  reform  journal  a  ?ietyspaper  as  well 
as  a  reform  journal.  Then  your  reformer  would  patronize  his  own 
ideas,  advertisers  advertise,  and  our  American  cities  would  soon 
have  the  freest  and  most  independent  press  ever  published  for  a 
free  and  independent  people. 

There  is  no  more  powerful  engine  for  good  or  evil  in  all  the 
world  than  the  great  metropolitan  press.  If  it  were  only  for  this 
one  truth  alone,  if  it  were  only  for  the  freedom  of  the  press  from 
its  present  monopoly  of  news  through  individual  wealth,  and  con- 
sequent crushing  out  of  advance  thought  journals, — if  it  were  only 


NEWS   MONOPOLY.  101 

for  this,  we  repeat,  alone,  we  should  have  agovernment  control  of 
telegraphs ;  we  should  have  the  infornation  of  the  world  con- 
trolled by  the  people. 

CHAPTER  XXXVI. 

TRANSPORTAION    MONOPOLY. 

As  THE  telegraph  lines  are  the  nerves  of  the  republic,  bo 
the  railroad  lines  are  the  steel  sinews  moving  its  substance;  the 
former  for  the  purposes  of  conveying  intelligence,  the  latter 
for  the  purpose  of  moving  its  substance  and  the  people  who  are 
the  being  of  the  republic.  That  these  two  functions  are  vitally 
public  in  their  nature  for  the  working  of  the  entire  being,  and  in 
no  vaanneT  private,  should  force  its  understanding  into  the  dull- 
est perception.  That  the  telegraph  lines  or  nerves  should  be 
controlled  by  the  entire  body  and  managed  from  one  central  point 
of  the  general  intelligence;  that  the  railroads,  or  national  sinews 
of  steel,  are  also  vitally  public  in  their  nature  for  the  working  of 
the  entire  being,  and  in  no  manner  private;  that  they  should 
also  be  controlled  by  the  entire  being  and  managed  from  one 
central  point  of  the  general  intelligence,  as  the  telegraphs, — is 
also  apparent,  if  the  being  is  ever  to  move  according  to  rational 
concert  or  action,  wherein  all  parts  are  directed  and  move  from 
one  general  identity,  yielding  the  full  power  and  full  accomplish- 
ment of  that  power,  viz,  itself, — the  being, — the  whole.  Anybody 
whose  parts  act  differently  from  this,  whose  parts  act  in  antag- 
onism to  its  parts  act  in  antagonism  to  its  whole,  their  real  self, 
such  body  must  of  itself  go  to  pieces,  dissipate,  and  finally  cease 
its  unity,  and  its  parts  also  cease  their  unity,  as  they  merely  re- 
ceive their  life  from  the  collective  being,  which  they  have  thus 
failed  to  recognize,  strengthen,  and  assist.  This  is  the  analysis  of 
the  fall  of  empires,  and  the  death  of   nations  and  their  peoples. 

A  nation,  therefore,  should  be  patterned  in  its  economy  after 
the  natural  arrangement  of  man's  interior  organization.  Its  sev- 
eral departments  should  be  thusorganized,  and  its  basis  of  action 
be  the  complete  development  of  each  and  every  portion  of  itself 
into  a  perfect  harmony  for  the  good  of  the  whole,  in  which  the 
good  of  the  parts  can  only  find  existence. 

Novv,  this  must  not  be  mistaken  for  a  simile,  metaphor,  allegory 
nor  illustration;  for  it  is  the  thing  itself;  for  man  in  his  concrete 
or  society,  is  merely  himself  again  in  the  higher  form. 

As  the  telegraphs  are  the  nerves,  and  the  railroads  the  sinews 
of  motion,  so  is  money  the  blood  of  the  nation,  and  performs  for 
it  precsiely  the  same  duty  as  the  blood  performs  in  the  individ- 
ual; and  thus,  being  also  vitally  generic  in  its  nature  for  the  op- 
eration of  the  e^i^zVe  being,  and  in  no  manner  private,  it  should 
also  be  controlled  by  the  entire  being,  and  managed  from  one 
central  point  of  the  general  intelligence,  as  the  telegraphs  and 
railroads. 

Thus  the  central  or  governmental  point  is  formed  from  the  col- 
lective wisdom  and  love  of  the  being,  and  animated  for  its  gen- 
eral good.  Thus  moved  for  that  end,  and  for  the  accomplisment 
of  this,  it  receives  instructions  from  the  parts,  and  sends  instruc- 


102  TRANSPORTATION   MONOPOLY. 

tioDS  from  its  centralized  intelligence  through  its  telegraphs 
(nerves).  These  instructions,  thus  received  and  thus  transmitted 
are  for  the  purpose  of  directing  the  railroads  (sinews)  in  their 
movements  of  the  body.  Thus  you  have  the  anatomy  of  man  and 
his  government  the  same. 

Thus  the  national  telegraphs  would  direct  the  movements,  and 
railroads  perform  the  movements,  of  the  general  substance  of  the 
nation  throughout  itself  to  each  and  every  part,  conveying  intel- 
ligence and  moving  substance  accordingly  everywhere.  Thus 
they  would  be  organized  upon  the  basis  of  their  natural  func- 
tions and  for  their  natural  designs.  And  thus  man  would  make 
his  society  as  nature  has  made  him  the  man.  Society,  pattern 
thyself  by  nature.  In  a  nation  thus  patterned  after  nature,  even 
as  its  telegraphs  (nerves)  transmit  instructions,  and  its  railroads 
(sinews)  give  motion  to  its  substance,  so  would  its  money  (na- 
tional blood)  apportion  unto  each  part  the  exact  portion  of  wealth 
which  that  part's  individual  action  called  for.  Thus  the  exact 
degree  of  effort  it  put  forth  for  the  whole  would  be  returned  to  it 
in  whatever  species  of  wealth  it  desired,  through  the  just  mea- 
surement of  every  portion's  effort  by  this  apportional  principle  of 
just  exchange. 

The  money,  then,  of  such  a  nation  so  constructed  upon  the 
economy  of  nature  would  apportion  the  substance  of  the  nation 
unto  the  many  parts  of  itself  as  the  blood  of  man  apportions  unto 
his  being  his  substances;  and  even  as  the  limb  which  performs 
the  most  effort  for  the  man  receives  the  most  sustenance  in  man, 
so  the  part  which  performed  the  most  effort  for  this  collective 
society  would  receive  the  most  sustenance  from  the  collective 
society;  not  as  it  is  now,  they  who  perform  the  least  receiving  the 
most,  and  they  who  perform  the  most  receiving  the  least.  This 
would  be  just  apportionment.  And  the  just  need  not  be  afraid 
of  justice.  Even  justice  to  the  bad  is  a  real  friend, — an  angel, 
though  in  disguise.  Nor  would  this  work  inequality,  in  the  rais- 
ing up  of  those  who  demonstrated  through  their  efforts  for  the 
whole  that  they  loved  society  the  best.  Love  would  be  elevated 
and  strengthened,  instead  of  hate,  as  it  is  now.  Nor  need  any 
imagine  that  the  weak  would  go  to  the  wall;  for  never  does  love, 
never  does  justice,  crush  the  weak;  for  where  these  two  reign, 
justice  sinks  itself  in  love,  and  love,  knowing  no  possessions  of  her 
own,  yields  all  and  ever  the  most  to  the  weakest,  making  the 
weak  strong  and  the  strong  just.  Thus  a  society  so  constituted 
would  soon  have  no  weak,  but  would  rapidly  unfold  a  perfect  ex- 
pression of  its  collective  greatness  in  every  individualism  of  its 
harmonious  circle. 

The  same  principles  being  applied  to  railroads  would  develop 
extraordinary  results.  The  immense  revenues  now  flowing  from 
the  general  public  into  private  reservoirs,  impoverishing  the 
people,  and  not  benefiting  whatever  the  individuals  who  are  the 
reservoirs,  but  only  injuring  them, — drawing  out  tbeir  weaker 
points  of  character  and  dwarfing  their  nobler  natures, — would  be 
ended. 

Railroads  being  run  for  the  nation,  and  not  for  profit  we  would 
run  them,  therefore,  on  the  cost  principle,  and  fares  and  freights 


TRANSPORTATION   MONOPOLY.  103 

would  be  regulated  not  to  leave  immense  margins  over  the 
wages  and  material  outlay,  nor  the  conventions,  legislatures. 
Congress,  Senates,  newspapers,  courts,  juries,  and  attorneys  fix- 
ing outlay,  but  simply  the  cost  of  the  labor  outlay  only,— the  le- 
gitimate outley  for  building,  equipping,  and  running  the  road. 
When  through  nationalization  this  outlay  became  the  basis  of 
freights  and  fares,  travel  and  transportation  would  be  within  the 
reach  of  all;  for  the  freighter  and  farer  would  not  have  added 
upon  hie  cost  of  legitimate  charges  interest  upon  bonds,  corrup- 
tion or  judicial  expenses,  press  and  political  purchasing,  private- 
service  funds,  and  immense  dividends  added  thereto  upon  this 
unnatural  pyramid  of  these  unnatural  expenses  of  this  most  un- 
natural system  of  transportation. 

Again,  with  railroads  as  in  the  nationalization  of  every  public 
insHtution,  all  this  enormous  pyramid  of  exaction  would  remain 
in  the  pockets  of  the  public,  and  not  flow  into  the  hands  of  the 
lew;  nor  would  you  find  a  community,  as  you  find  ours  to-day, 
with  the  labor  and  trade  of  the  people  representing  millions  in 
deeds,  bonds,  mortgages,  bills  of  sale,  credit,  farms,  houses,  mater- 
ials, clothing,  and  food,— yes,  representing,  and  speaking,  and 
writing,  and  calling  for,  and  demanding  millions  upon  millions, 
and  scarcely  a  dollar  within  sight,  sound,  or  travel, — with  a  five- 
cent  piece  so  very,  veiy  scarce  that  a  darky  cannot  buy  a  water- 
melon in  July.  Oh, idiotic  civilization,  why  not  become  civilized? 
Why  not  recognize  thyself, — the  welfare  of  thy  collectivity? 

Behold  the  thoroughfares  of  thy  great  cities;  along  them,  on 
each  side,  rent  and  interest  racked  shop-keepers.  They  are  each 
made  to  pay  dear  for  the  use  of  their  premises;  yet  before  their 
very  eyes  ply  the  busy  street-cars,  raking  in  thousands  upon 
thousands  of  dollars  from  the  general  circulation, — and  using 
collective  property  to  do  it, — and  each  day  those  five-cent  pieces 
are  exchanged  for  the  public's  "twenties," — and  each  day  the 
public's  five-cent  pieces  are  again  raked  in. 

And  so  the  corporation  drag-net  continues  its  unending  absorp- 
tion of  the  circulating  medium,  and  so  the  amount  of  the  pub- 
lic's money  is  continually  kept  at  zero,  and  the  unpatronized 
shop-keepers  wonder  at  the  dullness,  and  marvel  why  people  do 
not  buy.  Some  attribute  the  dullness  to  the  elections,  some  to 
the  Fourth  of  July,  some  to  the  crops,  some  to  the  weather,  and 
some  to  the  moon.  Scarcely  any  attribute  it  to  the  simple,  real 
cause:  that  the  public  have  no  money. 

If  these  street-car  private  corporations,  using  public  property 
for  private  interest,  were  to  be  abolished,  and  in  their  place  the 
municipality,  stepping  in  the  direction  of  nationalism,  were  to  own 
and  run  these  roads,  a  car  absorbing  fifty  dollars  per  day  out  of 
circulation  would  be  a  thing  of  the  past,  and  not  one  car  would 
absorb  one  single  cent  from  circulation,  and  could  be  run  better 
and  cheaper  than  ever  before.  The  cars  could  be  run  at  cost 
price,  and  the  fares  reduced  to  the  amount  necessary  to  pay  a 
good  compensation  to  the  employees,  whose  hours  could  be  re- 
duced by  increasing  the  number  of  shifts,  and  thus  reducing  the 
time  of  these  overworked  men  to  the  very  lowest  number  of 
hours  allowable  at  the  moment.    Thus  the  public  would  have 


104  TRANSPORTATION    MONOPOLY. 

cheap  fares,  and  the  employees  better  pay  and  hours,  and  the 
shop-keepers  receive  the  benefit  of  the  public's  loose  change, 
which  would  flow  to  their  stores  in  the  purchasing  of  wares.  Let 
the  shop-keepers  and  the  employees  we  have  mentioned  lend 
their  every  aid  to  bring  into  fruition  this  condition  of  affairs  by 
spreading  these  truths  through  the  masses.  But  the  street-cars 
are  not  the  only  means  of  the  impoverishment  of  the  multitude 
by  drag-netting  the  money  out  of  circulation.  Private  illumina- 
tion companies,  and  in  most  municipalities  private  water  com- 
panies, perform  the  same  function  of  paralyzing  municipal  busi- 
ness; and  when  we  examine  a  community,  and  perceive  the  vast 
sums  being  daily  extracted  from  circulation  by  these  private 
controls  and  managements  of  public  necessities,  it  is  really  a 
wonder  that  there  is  money  enough  remaining  at  any  time  in 
circulation  to  perform  the  necessary  purchasing  and  business 
transactions  of  the  people. 

If  all  light,  water,  and  car  departments  of  our  cities  were  pub- 
lic properties,  as  their  nature  and  their  urgency  demand  they 
should  be,  and  were  run  upon  the  cost  principle,  extracting  no 
more  than  their  real  expenses  demanded,  the  business  of  every 
city  so  protected  would  advance  out  of  this  unending  and  general 
stagnation,  and  the  idea  of  nationalism  demonstrated  to  such 
degree  as  to  be  carried  onward  and  upward. 

But  if  this  is  so  in  regard  to  municipal  aflfaire,  how  much  more 
so  does  it  apply  to  the  gigantic  land,  water,  oil,  metal,  telegraph, 
railroad,  money,  and  other  vast  continental  private  controls  of  the 
country's  necessities.  In  fact,  the  entire  country  is  in  a  rat-trap, 
— caught  fast  in  the  toils  of  those  who  claim  to  own  its  necessities. 
The  way  out  of  this  rat-trap  is  the  way  we  got  in.  We,  the  peo- 
ple, got  in  through  entering  the  door  of  private  control.  We  must 
pass  right  back  from  this  private  control,  back  to  our  natural  col- 
lective rights.  The  way  out  is  easy.  All  we  have  got  to  do  is  to 
walk  out;  for  nothing  can  stop  us  if  we  choose  to  walk  out;  and 
in  a  little  while,  by  the  signs  on  the  moon,  I  am  satisfied  we  will 
run  out. 

Run  out — from  allowing  a  few  individuals  to  run  railroads, 
telegraph,  and  the  money  of  sixty  millions  of  individuals.  Run 
out — from  allowing  the  earnings  of  sixty  millions  of  individuals 
to  go  into  the  pockets  of  sixty  individuals.  Run  out — from  allow- 
ing less  than  sixty  individuals  to  run  the  President,  Congress, 
Senate,  conventions,  parties,  literature,  land,  water,  oil,  gas, 
electricity,  railroads,  telegraphs,  ships,  manufacturing,  trade, 
commerce,  banks,  mines,  and  the  entire  dictionary  of  nouns  of 
sixty  millions  of  people. 

I  should  think  any  people  who  had  the  sense  of  a  microbe 
would  run  out  from  such  a  senseless  ape-trap  as  this, — run — no, 
jump — out  of  it ! 

As  soon  as  the  people  do  jump  from  under  it,  or  run,  or  walk, 
or  meander,  or  get  from  under  it  by  any  possible  process,  they 
will  behold  an  era  not  equaled  by  the  fancied  future  of  the  up- 
turned eyeballs  of  the  heaven-over-there-ist;  they  will  behold 
the  full  richness  and  splendor  of  mother  Nature,  evolved  by  the 
concerted  action  of  a   united  people,  showered  upon  each  and 


TRANSPORTATION  MONOPOLY.  105 

every  child  of  the  people;  they  will  behold  such  a  scene,  such  a 
civilized  civilization,  that  there  will  be  little  use  for  "the  beauti- 
ful, the  beautiful  river."  Our  paradise-brokers'  occupation  will 
be  gone. 

Dear  reader,  let  us  commune  further  upon  this  theme. 

"Can  we  build  national  railroads  with  a  system  of  national 
finance?" 

"It  is  the  only  process  whereby  you  can  build  a  national  rail- 
road. Mexico  endeavored  to  build  a  national  railroad  with  indiv- 
idual finance.  The  result  was,  she  built  a  portion  of  the  road, 
which  is  now  heavily  bonded  to  the  foreign  crpitalists,  who  fur- 
nished their  individual  capital  for  its  construction.  The  fares 
and  freights  are  not,  therefore,  based  upon  cost,  but  have  to 
include  a  heavy  interest  on  these  individuals'  bonds,  whose 
holders,  therefore,  actually  receive  an  immense  revenue  from  this 
national  road  of  Mexico,  without  trouble  or  cost  to  themselves, 
while  at  the  same  time  the  principal  of  the  debt  remains,  tbe 
amount  of  which  principal  they  will  therefore  draw  over  and  over 
again,  without  decreasing  a  cent  of  the  original  debt;  thus,  in 
fact,  virtually  oivning  the  road,  which  road,  although  termed 
national,  is  national,  therefore,  only  in  name. 

"To  build  a  national  road,  let  your  treasury  issue  national  cer- 
tificates for  time  and  value  received  in  the  construction  of  the 
road,  and  issue  them  in  recognition  or  vouchment  to  all  who  fur- 
nish such  time  and  material.  Then  let  the  treasury  again  re- 
ceive back  these  certificates  for  freights  and  fares  along  the  rail- 
road as  it  extends  its  lines. 

"A  dollar's  worth  of  freights  or  a  dollar's  worth  of  fares  is  equal 
to  a  dollar's  worth  of  anything,  gold,  silver,  lead,  or  any  other 
commodity,  and  would  be  readily  received  anywhere;  and  cer- 
tainly so,  if  made  receivable  by  the  government  for  government 
dues  of  any  kind,  and  also  made  legal  tender.  These  certificates 
in  a  brief  period  would  soon  be  received  back  into  the  treasury 
in  payment  by  individuals  for  freights  and  fares,  and  thus  the 
national  railroad  would  in  a  short  time  earn  and  liquidate  itself, 
without  the  borrowing  of  a  single  pound  of  gold,  lead,  silver,  tin, 
nickel,  or  any  other  species  of  any  individual's  metal. 

"Thus  you  would  build  a  railroad  national  in  deed  as  well  as 
name,  and  you  would  not  attempt,  as  Mexico  has  attemped,  viz, 
to  build  a  house  with  another  man's  bricks,  upon  another  man's 
land,  and  then,  having  put  a  sign  upon  it,  reading,  'This  is  my 
house,'  proceed  to  pay  him  rent  regularly  every  month  for  living 
in  what  you  fondly  imagine  to  be  your  own  house,  but  what  he 
fondly  realizes  to  be  his." 

"Would  you  destroy  these  national  certificates  issued  for  build- 
ing the  road  after  they  had  been  received  back  by  the  government 
for  freights  and  fares?" 

"That  would  be  immaterial.  You  could,  if  you  wished  to  de- 
stroy a  useful  instrument  which  had  built  a  railroad  for  you;  but 
if  you  did  not  so  wish,  you  could  again  issue  them  for  the  con- 
struction of  other  public  necessities  or  institutions,  and  so  keep 
them  being  issued  out  for  labor  and  material,  and  returned  back 
to  the  treasury  in  receipt  for  services  rendered  by  these  institu- 


106  TRANSPORTATION   MONOPOLY. 

tions  to  individuals.  You  would  then  have  in  these  national  cer- 
tificates a  perfect  national  currency,  upon  whose  current  would 
flow,  uninterrupted  and  unimpeded,  the  entire  wealth  of  the  na- 
tion, natural  and  automatic." 
"Would  this  also  apply  to  national  telegraphs?" 
"Whatever  is  truth  applies  to  the  whole.  Truth  is  universality. 
The  national  certificate  of  labor  is  truth,and  applies  to  every  part 
of  the  nation, — builds,  runs,  and  rules  everywhere  under  civiliza- 
tion civilized,  or  nationalization." 

CHAPTER  XXXVII. 

ELECTRICITY. 

Electricity,  this  great  agent  of  mind,  this  mightiest  of  serv- 
ants, this  genie  of  a  greater  Aladdin's  lamp,  is  about  supplying 
the  race  with  its  inexhaustible  force.  Genius  stands  already  at 
her  fabled  cave  of  mystery  and  liberates  this  long  unknown  and  un- 
recognized power. 

Illumination,  transportation,  telegraphy,  photography,  surgery, 
horticulture,  agriculture,  metallurgy,  and  manufacture  throb, 
pulsate,  gleam,  and  glow  in  this  marvelous  current  of  existece. 

Electric  science  with  every  step  of  her  discoveries  dissipates  our 
distances  and  lessens  our  hallucination  of  time,  drawing  men 
closer  and  closer  in  the  physical,  and  suggesting  affinitization 
in  the  spiritual.  Where  ponderous,  ear-rending  mechanism 
pounded  the  rocks  to  release  the  metal,  she,  with  her  irresistible 
yet  unseen  current  instantaneously  separates  the  ore.  Where  the 
smut-begrimed  engineer  seized  the  heavy  throttle,  she  cleanly 
and  but  softly  touches  a  tiny  button,  and  the  heavy  steed  of  seel 
receives  its  life,  not  from  a  smoking,  hissing,  fussing  steam,  but 
from  a  noiseless,  silent  energy.  And  yet  this  strange  power,  that 
has  taken  its  place  at  the  head  of  all  known  forces,  which,  without 
fuel  or  expense,  flies  with  its  burden  swifter  than  thebird'sflight; 
this  last  and  greatest  progeny  of  thought;  this  seventh  daughter 
of  science,  which  dips  her  wand  down  into  the  impossible  and 
presents  miracles  until  miracles  become  common,  will  yet  outstrip 
her  past  achievements.  Your  ponderous  engines  will  fade  away, 
un necessitated  by  her  disintegration  and  reaflfinitizations.  Your 
barren  rocks  will  change  into  most  precious  things;  agricluture 
shall  cease, — for  the  earth  shall  blossom  at  her  touch;  manufacture 
she  will  render  automatic;  and  your  webs  she  will  shuttle  in  the 
silent  loom  of  her  miseries,  unwet  by  the  tears  of  an  imprisoned 
childhood,  unmoistened  by  the  sweat  of  a  dungeoned  man! 
Heaven  bless  her  footsteps!  She  comes  like  a  friend  to  relieve 
us  from  pain, — latest  born  handmaid  of  liberty! 

And  to  think,  O  brothers  and  sisters,  that  this  power  bound- 
less as  the  depths,  and  universal  as  heaven's  own  love,  to  relieve 
the  oppressed  of  earth, — that  it,  too,  is  to  be  the  tool  of  flat-fore- 
headed  iudidivualism, — to  think  that  indidivualism  proposes  to 
bottle  it  up  in  illumination,  telegraphy,  transportation,  and  every 
other  expression  of  itself,  for  indidivual  profit,  and  sell  it  out  as  it 
once  sold  man  upon  the  block  until  the  march  of  nation's  battal- 
ions cried,  "Stop!" 


ELECTRICITY.  107 

And  so  shall  it  be  with  electrcity.  We  shall  yet  place  it  above 
the  plane  of  "profit,"  high  upon  the  plane  of  justice,  where  it 
shall  not  be  for  the  egotistical  enrichment  and  glory  of  the  few,  but 
for  the  welfare  of  the  nation's  millions.  For  in  and  of  itself  its 
character  is  so  superlatively  grand  in  process  and  expression  that 
it  is  of  the  universal,  and  comes  upon  the  theater  of  action  simul- 
taneous with  nationalistic  ideas,  and  nationalism  shall  yet  adminis- 
ter upon  this  most  national  of  the  sciences  and  extend  the  benefits 
of  its  applications  and  products  to  the  prorietorship  of  all  and  the 
exclusion  of  none. 

The  great  public  inititutions  to  which  this  power  is  now  applied 
are  national  in  every  feature,  are  collective  in  every  use  and  nat- 
ure, and  even  as  they  stand  to-day  could  be  placed  in  the  hands 
of  a  government  reciever  or  controller  and  suffer  not  the  slightest 
jar  in  the  machinery  or  economy  of  their  present  arrangement. 
They  would  run  under  government  control  more  smoothly  than 
under  indidividual,  and  receive  a  greater  sustenance  through  our 
unitized  wealth  than  they  now  receive  from  fragmentary  inliuence. 

And  this  must  be,  if  liberty  of  thought  and  limb,  individual 
liberty,  or  collective  liberty,  is  to  longer  prevail.  For  if  profit,  with 
its  single-visioned  prayer,  is  to  be  allowed  to  bend  even  the  light- 
nings to  its  lust,  it  will  then  wield  a  wepon  such  as  tyrant  never 
scourged  humanity  with  before,  and  such  as  humanity,  after  hav- 
ing once  allowed  it  to  control,  will  find  itself  unable  to  resist,  and 
history  will  again  repeat  the  story  of  a  people  lost  upon  the  shores 
of  a  sea,  and  existence  again  have  to  wait  until  love  brings  forth 
another  race,  and  cries  unto  wisdom,  "Try  again." 

CHAPTER   XXXVIII. 

OUR   COIiLECTIVE   MAIL,   SERVICE. 

The  national  mail  service  of  the  United  States  is  a  standing 
object-lesson  proving  the  utility,  practicability,  and  undeniable 
common  sense  of  nationalism.  The  mail  service  of  our  country 
glides  along  with  as  much  smoothness  and  as  little  friction — yes, 
less — than  the  very  best  private  concern  in  the  land.  Its  ramifi- 
cations are  as  numerous  as  are  the  railroads  and  the  telegraghs, 
as  intricate  and  as  vast  in  proportion  as  any  private  institution, 
and  there  is  not  one  single  feature  of  its  management  but  would 
apply,  and  could  be  applied,  to  every  other  necessity  of  the 
people. 

The  charge  that  the  collective  management  of  collective  neces- 
sities is  impracticable,  Utopian,  or,  far-fetched  is  conclusively 
answered  in  this  living  demonstration  of  the  collective  mail  ser- 
vice before  us. 

Through  this  pioneer  department  of  nationalism,  our  mail  is 
served  at  cost  price,  and  the  entire  cost  of  the  department  is,  or 
should  be,  the  cost  of  its  service  to  the  people;  and  our  mail 
should  be  charged  for  at  the  exact  outlay  attending  its  distribu- 
tion, making  the  entire  institution  self-supporting,  and  self-operat- 
ive, devoid  of  taxation  or  tax  collector.  It  is  no  fault  of  the  de- 
partment if  it  is  not  thus  run,  but  the  fault  of  not  comprehending 
the  advantages  of  the  situation. 


108  OUR   COLLECTIVE   MAIL   SERVICE. 

Through  this  collective  distribution,  not  only  are  we  protected 
from  individual  extortions,  as  we  find  in  private  controls,  but 
every  improvement,  every  cheapening  of  outlay,  every  advantage 
adopted,  immediately  cheapens  the  cost  to  the  people,  who  share 
in  its  every  advantage.  This  is  not  the  case  in  regard  to  private 
controls.  In  such,  the  cheapening  and  the  improvements  in  but 
very  meager  degree  are  partaken  of  by  the  public,  and  but 
mainly  go  to  swell  up  the  pediculous  possessions  of  those  already 
ridiculoualy  rich. 

And  I  put  the  question  to  labor:  Does  not  the  liberal  hours 
and  pay  of  the  American  government  in  its  different  branches  to 
its  numerous  attachees  and  employees  tend,  through  the  laws  of 
sympathy,  to  liberalize  to  a  considerable  degree  the  hours  and 
the  wages  in  private  employment, — example  being  a  powerful 
thing  in  and  of  itself  alone?  And  again:  Would  not  the  reverse 
equally  hold  as  true,  were  the  postal  and  other  institutions  now 
national,  private  in  their  control  and  interest?  Would  not  this 
have  a  direct  tendency  to  reverse  the  present  situation,  and  help 
to  lengthen  hours  and  shorten  pay  of  thousands  upon  thousands 
of  other  toilers? 

No  wonder  that  we  hear  so  much  of  office-seeking.  I  do  not 
refer  to  the  political  parasites  upon  public  institutions,  who 
draw  pay  and  render  no  duty,  but  I  refer  to  the  innumerable 
host  of  public  employees  who  earn  their  compensation,  and  who 
earn  it  well,  and  their  name  is  legion.  No  wonder,  I  repeat,  is  it 
that  office-seeking  is  almost  a  mania  with  our  people.  Why  is  it 
BO?  What  hidden  charm  surrounds  the  public  service?  Why  do 
you  see  men  surrender  lucrative  business  and  fairly  good  occu- 
pations to  struggle  for  the  few,  comparatively  speaking,  positions 
or  places  under  our  government?  The  reason  is,  that  it  is  better, 
higher,  nobler,  easier,  and  more  profitable  to  work  for  the  whole 
than  for  a  part,  just  as  it  is  better  to  work  for  a  corporation  or 
association  of  persons  than  it  is  to  work  for  one  single  employer. 
Thus  it  is  that  generally  we  find  labor  preferring  corporation  to 
private  employment,  and  government  to  corporation,  because 
the  greater  the  employer  the  better  the  condition  of  the  em- 
ployed. 

This  instinct  of  the  people  to  prefer  government  employment 
will  be,  sooner  or  later,  gratified;  for  there  shall  yet  be  a  day  when 
each  and  every  person  will  think  and  labor  only  for  the  whole, 
and  there  will  be  no  private  or  personal  employment  in  all  the 
land, — when  every  necessity  will  be  national  in  its  character  and 
control,  and  we  will  have  a  nation,  not  of  private  interests,  but  for 
the  whole  people,  by  the  whole  people.  The  idea  of  the  collective 
management  of  the  post-office  is  the  thin  point  of  the  collective 
wedge,  and  Uncle  Sam  will  soon  drive  the  wedge  clean  home  into 
every  other  public  necessity. 


109  HOW   SHALL   WE   BECOME   NATIONALIZEOy 

CHAPTER   XXXIX. 

HOW   SHALL  WE   BECOME   NATIONALIZED? 

The  first  thing  is,  the  education  of  the  people  up  to  the  under- 
standing of  the  principle  and  the  truths  of  co-operation, — the  un- 
derstanding of  the  whole,  the  comprehension  of  the  function  of 
the  parts,  and  the  function  of  the  parts  correlated  as  one;  that 
the  function  of  the  parts  is  to  produce;  of  the  whole,  to  direct. 
When  they,  the  people,  discern  that  they  are  not  going  to  be  hurt, 
but  benefited,  when  </iei/  perceive  that  </ie?/ are  going  to  get  jus- 
tice, then  their  mind  opens  to  the  search  of  ways  and  means  to 
accomplish  the  idea.  Now  then,  for  this  education  we  have  the 
public  press,  we  have  literature,  and  public  meetings;  and  for  the 
ways  and  means  of  putting  nationalization  into  practice,  we  have 
the  public  ballot. 

We  need  to  determine  the  first  point  of  attack  upon  the  enemy's 
works.  Any  general  would  of  course,  determine  a  certain  point 
yet,  nevertheless,  he  would  be  open  to  change  that  point  of  attack 
if  circumstances  altered  the  case.  The  individual  control  of  gold 
and  silver  to-day  is  the  center  of  the  enemy,  because  gold  and 
silver  control  the  life-blood,  or  the  exchange  principle,  of  the 
nation.  Anything  in  that  direction,  therefore,  meets  with  the 
most  vehement  individual  defense,  supported  by  an  innumerable 
soldiery  of  ignorant  infatuitists,  who  suffer,  yet  who  would  die  for 
what  they  suffer  for.  Therefore  let  us  move  on  some  more  popu- 
lar point  of  action.  The  railroads  and  telegraph  systems  are  the 
first  great  points  upon  which  we  must  concentrate  our  full 
strength.    They  must  be  nationalized. 

The  features  common  to  transportation  and  the  administration 
of  its  departments  naturally  quicken  public  understanding;  the 
plain  and  simple  character  of  their  vast  operations  ever  presents 
a  public  study, — and  even  so  with  telegraphy  as  with  transporta- 
tion. Let  us  send  our  increasing  legions  there.  Let  our  apostles 
harp  and  harp  on  the  nationalization  of  railroads  and  telegraphs; 
let  us  elect  our  agents  to  the  councils  of  the  nation,  constituted 
as  it  is  to  advocate  and  introduce  measures  therefor.  Let  us  re- 
veal to  the  many  the  vast  openings  for  labor  in  the  national  in- 
auguration of  national  trunk  lines  from  ocean  to  ocean, — the  en- 
gagement of  engineers,  the  employment  of  surveyors,  the  setting 
to  work  of  every  idle  man  at  living  ratea  building  the  road.  Let 
us  enlist  commercial  communities  in  the  general  advantage  con- 
sequent on  the  increased  employment  of  labor,  and  the  increased 
advantage  to  their  several  cities. 

Let  the  first  national  road  be  as  superior  to  anything  of  the  old- 
fashoned,  little,  present  individual  instiutions  as  the  whole  is  to 
the  part.  We  ought  to  have  a  national  railroad  from  New  York 
to  San  Francisco,  taking  freights  and  fares  at  cost  price,  with  the 
wealth  of  the  road  running  into  the  pockets  of  those  who  employ 
the  road  and  those  who  perform  the  labor  on  the  road,  and  not  as 
it  is  now,  running  into  individual  bank  accounts.  Apply  the 
same  tactics  to  the  telegraphs.  Truth  must  prevail.  The  people 
will  soon  perceive  the  idea;  the  merchant  as  well  as  the  machanic 
the  capitalist  as  well  as  the  rest;  for  all  are  at  heart  in  favor  of 


110  HOW   SHALL,   WE   BECOME  NATIONALIZED? 

justice  if  they  can  be  brought  to  see  it. 

We  must  not  propose  to  buy  any  existing  individual  road.  We 
must  propose  to  set  the  idle  millions  to  work  building  a  superior 
road  of  their  own.  We  will  get  one  or  two  agents  elected;  we  so 
far  will  have  done  nothing  as  yet,  but  merely  started  the  ball. 
Soon  we  will  get  two,  three,  and  scores  of  our  agents.  We  must 
not  abuse  them  if  they  are  unable  to  do  what  they  cannot.  We 
will  keep  on,  and  as  the  multitude  awaken  to  the  truth,  lo,  we 
shall  have  Congress!  In  the  meantime,  let  the  present  post-office 
and  other  public  employees  be  inoculated  with  our  elixir  of 
national  life.  They  are  now  undergoing  an  object-lesson  and  are 
ready  to  receive  the  light.  In  the  mean  time,  vote  and  advocate 
for  the  publicizing  of  education  to  its  fulness,  and  every  public 
convenience.  Stand  against  any  more  use  of  our  public  thorough- 
fares for  private  prolit.  Stand  against  any  re-grant  of  railroad.or 
illumination,  or  water,  or  any  other  franchise,  to  private  individu- 
als. Stand  against  these  bogus  so-called  national  banks  who  have 
stolen  the  livery  of  heaven  to  serve  individualism  with.  Demand 
that  the  nation  shall  nationalize  money.  Reveal  to  the  citizen 
that  sixty  millions  of  people  with  their  total  wealth  is  better  and 
safter  to  make  a  deposit  with  than  an  individual  with  a  carpet- 
bag, a  sheet  of  paper,  a  pen,  and  a  desk.  Open  the  bank  of  Uncle 
Sam,  wherein  you  can  transact  business  one  day  and  not  the  next 
day  find  your  banker  in  Canada.  Uncle  Sam  stays  and  is  always 
at  home;  is  the  oldest,  the  most  reliable,  and  the  wealthiest  citi- 
zen, and  the  only  person  we  should  bank  with. 

When  we  have  nationalized  the  railroads  and  the  telegraphs, 
we  will  have  also  nationalized  our  finance;  for  you  cannot  build 
a  public  institution  on  borrowed  or  private  capital.  You  can 
build  the  institution,  but  you  will  find  that  the  private  capital 
with  which  it  was  built  has  a  death-grip  upon  it;  that  you  are 
no  better  off  than  renting  a  private  structure;  that  you  have 
changed  rent  into  interest,  and  imagine  yourself  free;  that  you 
have  painted  your  house  a  new  color,  changed  its  number,  and 
imagine  that  you  have  moved.  No;  to  build  a  building  of  your 
own,  you  must  build  it  with  and  out  of  your  own  material.  For 
Uncle  Sam  to  build  his  own  railroads  and  his  own  telegraphs,  he 
will  have  to  build  them  with  his  own  money;  will  have  to  build 
these  national  institutions  with  the  national  certificate  issued  for 
labor  and  material,  and  received  back  again  in  freights,  fares, 
and  telegraph  rates. 

Thus  when  we  have  national  railroads  and  telegraphs  we  will 
have  the  national  certificate  and  the  national  bank.  The  remain- 
der will  be  down-hill  running;  the  first,  up-grade.  The  remain- 
der will  reveal  individualism  on  the  stampede.  All  water  com- 
panies, light  companies,  and  such  will  circle  into  the  vortex. 
Street  cars  will  become,  first,  municipal,  then  national.  The 
grain  of  the  country,  as  the  railroads  are  nationalized,  will  be 
handled  and  warehoused  in  the  national  warehouses.  Nationalism 
will  then  have  behind  it  a  force  of  two  million  of  the  best-paid,  best- 
fed,  best-clad,  best-housed,  and  best-evoluted  soldiery  the  sun 
ever  looked  and  smiled  upon.  The  nationalization  of  the  rail- 
roads, the  telegraphs,  and  the  banks  will  give  us  this  army.    And 


HOW   SHALL   WE   BECOME   NATIONALIZED?  Ill 

nothing  can  withstand  a  well  paid,  fed,  clad,  and  treated  Boldiery, 
with  superior  intelligence  in  their  heads  and  superior  love  in 
their  hearts.  There  is  nothing  in  the  world  that  can  resist  such 
an  army  to-day.  With  this  grand  national  guard  we  would  per- 
form the  last  coups  d'etat,  and  the  land,  and  the  air,  and  the 
light  would  be  declared  the  republic's.  Then  up  would  go  your 
palaces,  and  into  those  palaces  would  enter  my  country's  home- 
less, HOUSELESS  RACE. 

Thus  we  may  skirmish  and  peter  around  municipal  and  other 
divisions  and  outposts  of  the  enemy,  but  the  plan  of  our  attack 
must  be  to  set  the  people  to  work, — thus  secure  an  army  of  the 
national  employed,  and  proceed  upon  the  enemy's  works.  The 
building  of  national  railroads  will  benefit  the  individual;  the 
building  of  national  telegraphs  will  benefit  the  individual;  the 
establishing  of  the  national  bank  will  benefit  the  individual. 
Reveal  these  benefits  to  these  individuals,  and  that  forms  your 
recruiting  policy.  Individual  benefit  will  soon  draw  up  an 
organized  army  before  you.  Hammer  on  the  benefit  of  these 
special  branches  of  public  service;  and  the  more  you  hammer  on 
them  the  defter  you  will  become,  until,  as  the  smithy  at  his  glow- 
ing forge,  amid  the  flying  sparks  of  thought  your  goodly  sledge  of 
truth  will  shape  the  ready  and  yielding  material  before  you. 
Gird  up  thy  loins,  and  go  forth! 

CHAPTER  XL. 

EVOLUTION,    POLITICAL    AND    SOCIAL. 

The  ego  in  its  primal  consciousness  recognizes,  can  but  recog- 
nize, naught  save  its  "ego,"— "I  am,"— its  own  existence.  As  it 
moves  up  from  that  consciousness  it  becomes  conscious  of  the 
limited  circle  or  environments  around  it.  The  final  motive  source 
of  its  life  is  attraction.  In  electricity  this  attraction  is  embodied 
by  the  negative;  in  the  plant,  by  absorption;  in  the  beast,  by 
hunger;  and  reaching  up  still  further  on  the  plane  of  unfoldment, 
by  man,  in  his  thirst  to  acquire  knowledge  or  power. 

Thus,  in  the  different  degrees  or  forms  of  this  unfoldment  of 
"attraction"  by  the  ego,  it  presents  the  rising  steps  of  its  various 
phases,  presented  in  the  forms  of  absorption,  hunger,  and  the 
desire  to  know. 

In  the  lower  form  of  mind,  the  comprehension  of  man  alomost 
resembles  the  form  of  hunger,  or  a  beast  in  search  of  prey,  and 
thus  hunger  in  the  brute  is  the  primordial  of  the  selfishness  in 
the  man.  This  selfishness  seeks  to  devour,  to  make  prey  of  its 
environments,  land,  water,  air,  light,  all  of  which,  in  the  crude  or 
complex,  are  the  subjects  of  its  hunger,  devoid  of  respect  or 
understanding.  Its  consciousness  expands  with  its  contacts,  and 
its  selfishness  keeps  pace  with  its  expanding  consciousness,  until 
its  yearnings  become  Inordinate;  and  where  it  was  formerly  satis- 
fied with  devouring  individual  rights,  it  seeks  to  devour  the 
entire  rights  of  communities.  It  is  then  termed  "monopoly,"'  the 
highest  brute  form  of  the  "ego,"  which  displays  the  nature  of  a 
beast  seeking  to  devour  the  entire  community. 

It  is  the  ego  in   the  low  form, — a  thin^,' having  taken  on  con-| 


112  EVOLUTION,   POLITICAL,  AND  SOCIAL. 

BciouBness,  yet  not  reached  the  point  of  love, — moving  without 
moral  conviction.  And  this  is  the  photograph  of  monopoly  from 
its  cradle  to  its  grave. 

As  this  selfishness  proceeds  monopolizing,  it  adopts  unto  itself 
the  ideas  of  the  many,  and  absorbs  and  digests  them  into  a 
single  system  of  its  own,  thus  combining  many  systems  in  one, 
not  for  the  good  of  the  many,  but  for  the  gree.d  of  itself;  unfolds 
into  a  situation  of  combined  effort  and  systematized  economy, 
wherein  the  lesser  selfishnesses  are  engulfed  in  the  greater,  and 
thus  on,  until  the  greater  at  length  unfolds  a  selfishness  which 
finally  evolves  a  system  so  enormous  and  so  national  in  its  char- 
acter as  to  inevitably  engulf  the  very  selfishness  which  de- 
signed it. 

Let  us  examine  into  this  process;  let  us  glance  at  production 
for  a  moment.  No  more  the  smithy  laboriously  hammers  out  his 
iron  shapes.  They  are  made  at  some  gigantic  forge  by  the  whole- 
sale. No  more  the  carpenter  slowly  hews,  saws,  chisels,  and 
planes  out  a  house  from  the  forest  trees.  It  is  all  systematized; 
an  immense  mill  saws,  chisels,  and  plances  out  a  thousand  houses, 
and  he  but  puts  the  parts  together.  Shoemaking,  tanning,  tailor- 
ing, weaving,  spinning,  printing,  hat-making,  pin-making,  dyeing, 
washing, — all  centralized  and  centralizing  into  huge  establish- 
ments, chrushing  out  competition,  trampling  down  the  interests 
of  the  individual  through  individuality, — trampling  down  the 
interests  of  thousands  of  small  competitors  for  the  interest  of  one, 
— monopolizing, — yet  building  up  an  unpralleled  system  of  pro- 
duction, admirable  and  marvelous,  and  ordained  in  the  near 
future  to  be  transformed  into  a  co-operation  of  the  whole. 

Let  us  for  a  moment  look  into  our  present  individualistic  form 
of  commercial  distribution,  where  the  soul-absorbing  idea  is 
"profit  on  the  goods;"  where  selfishness  puts  on  a  smirk  of  dignity 
and  calls  itself  "business." 

Behold  a  thoroughfare!  Along  it  a  thousand  shops.  One 
large  business  house  attracts  attention.  'Tis  said  they  sell 
cheaper  here;  that  a  thousand  concomitant  expenses  attending 
production,  transportation,  sale,  and  purchase  which  lesser  estab- 
lishments have  to  bear  is  through  the  immensity  of  this  firm 
avoided.  Where  tens  purchase  elsewhere,  thousands  purchase 
here.  A  thousand  lesser  establishments  must  go  out  of  existence. 
This  is  centralization  or  systemization  of  distribution, — busi- 
ness monopoly,  individualism,  absorbing  the  interest  of  indi- 
viduals. 

Yet  the  people  who  denounce  monopoly  are  building  up  this 
monopoly.  Is  the  monopolist  to  be  denounced?  No!  Are  the 
slaves  who  support  this  monopoly  to  be  denounced?  Nol  Be- 
cause the  system  it  is  inaugurating  is  right,  and  because  they 
could  not  help  it  if  they  would;  for  circumstances  force  them  to 
the  cheapest  market.    They  must  buy  cheap  or  suffer. 

The  democracy  of  a  thousand  little  store-keepers  cry  out 
against  this  centralization  of  trade.  But  centralization  marches 
onward,  and  one  by  one,  like  forest  leaves,  they  decline,  ready  to 
fall  into  this  commercial  maelstrom.  This  all  means  many  in  one; 
union;  progress  toward  nationalism.    Let  this  system  continue, 


EVOLUTION,    POLITICAL    AND    SOCIAL.  U3 

and  there  is  but  one  outlet  to  the  stream,  and  that  outlet  opens 
into  government  distribution.  And  it  will  continue,— continue 
until  that  end.  And  then  there  will  be  no  more  cadaverous, 
hungry-eved  shop-keeper  watching  to  make  one  hundred  percent 
upon  some  as  equally  cadaverous-eyed  customer;  for  profit  is  a 
two-edged  knife,  and,  working  both  ways,  cadavers  both  custo- 
mer and  merchant.  But  after  this  comes  nationalization.  Then 
we  will  have  no  more  purse-proud  merchant  princes  of  monopoly 
absorbing  the  advantages  of  a  system  ordained  by  nature  to  be 
national,— nay,  universal.  Progress  will  accept  the  system  of  the 
merchant  prince,  but  reject  his  individual  monopoly.  There  will 
then  be  no  more  one  hundred  and  one  thousand  per  cent; 
no  more  poisonous  adulterations;  no  more  short  weight;  for 
when  distribution  is  nationalized  the  great  truth  shall  pre- 
vail, that  private  interests  are  subservient  and  tributary  to 
public  benefit,  and  justice  will  take  the  place  of  business. 

Let  us  examine  transportation. 

From  St.  Louis  to  San  Francisco,  not  a  half -century  ago, 
thousands — nay,  millions — were  carrying,  hauling,  dragging  ma- 
terial backward  and  forward, — beasts  of  burden,  oxen,  horses,  and 
mules,  and  men,  sweating  their  lives  away. 

A  railroad  from  ocean  to  ocean  entered  the  imagination  of  man, 
— imagination!  the  womb  of  the  soil;  the  mind's  architecture 
chamber;  creation  in  its  nebular  condition;  that  department 
from  whence  first  emerges  things;  the  creatorial  spring!  A  rail- 
road spanning  the  continent  was  written  about,  talked  about,  and 
then  came  plans,  definite  shape,  surveys, — a  gigantic  dream  being 
materialized.  Then  came  the  nation's  credit.  Her  stamp  upon 
paper  (foolishly  given  to  private  parties  to  build  a  private  road), — 
this  secured  the  necessarry  labor  and  material.  A  little  while,  and 
the  idea  became  reality,  and  a  transcontinental  system  of  trans- 
portation reached  from  deep  to  deep.  Then  the  iron  horse  came 
on,  and  the  crack  of  the  merry  stage-man's  whip  urging  his  six-in- 
hand  up  the  steep  incline  was  heard  no  more,  nor  the  jingle  of 
the  prairie  schooner's  bells  upon  the  slow'trudging  mule,  and  the 
weary-eyed  oxen  became  but  memories.  Their  occupation  had 
passed;  for  their  many  labors  had  become  one,  their  intersts  ab- 
sorbed in  a  mightier  system  of  transportation, — a  system  the 
very  self  of  centralization,  which  of  its  very  economy  centralizes 
and  centralize  until  the  center  has  been  reached. 

These  trunk  lines  came  and  absorbed  the  primal  carriers,  then 
began  to  draw  in  the  branch  roads,  gradually  they  take  up  their 
weaker  neighbors,  and  now,  one  by  one,  the  lesser  enters  into  the 
greater.  A  little  while,  and  one  vast  transportation  system  shall 
extend  its  iron  sinews  over  the  territory  of  the  republic.  Shall  its 
center  be  an  individual  interest?  or  shall  its  center  be  Uncle  Sam, 
— the  people?  A  private  profit  or  a  public  benefit?  This  is 
the  question, — individualism  or  collectivism?  We  have  said 
at  the  outset  that  nationalism  is  universalism  local  to  America. 
Everywhere  the  same  principle  of  unification  and  centralization 
is  at  work.  But  nowhere  save  in  America,  in  a  republic 
such  as  ours,  can  nationalization  be  consummated.  In  a  mon- 
archy, an  hereditary  ring  is  the  government.    If  you  were  to  turn 


114  EVOLUTION,   POLITICAL  AND   SOCIAL. 

a  railroad  over  to  the  government  there,  you  would  be  simply 
turning  it  over  to  a  ring.  Here  the  people  are  the  government. 
A  thing  belonging  ^o  the  government  here  is  a  thing  belonging  to 
the  people;  and  nationalization  here  is  popular  proprietor- 
ship,— a  something  impossible  in  a  monarchial  form  of  govern- 
ment. 

Tamerlane,  the  human  hyena,  marched  burning,  murdering, 
and  devastating  the  earth,  trampling  down  tribes  and  sects,  unit- 
ing them  in  his  single  tribe  and  sect, — a  monster  of  destruction, 
and  yet  a  builder;  a  destroyer  of  thousands  of  little  monster 
sects;  for  his  great  monster  sect;  a  Nemesis  on  the  path  of  central- 
ization marching  toward  the  point  of  universalism. 
^  Thus  went  Alexander,  Mahomet,  Constantine,  Julius  Caesar,  and 
in  these  latter  days.  Grant,  carrying  out  the  eternal  fiat, — union, 
centralization,  universalism! 

Thus  the  Egyptians,  Assyrians,  Babylonians,  Grecians,  Romans, 
w^ent  on  and  on,  in  the  tribes,  principalities,  kingdoms,  nations, 
empires, — onward  and  upward,  uniting  many  into  one.  Thus 
Germany  waged  her  many  wars.  Thus  Bismarck  as  last  consoli- 
dated her  many  states.  Thus  went  Napoleon,  dreaming  of  his 
little  ambition,  thinking  not  of  the  mightier  and  subtler  plan,  of 
which  he  was  but  one  of  the  innumerable  factors, — one  of  count- 
less— ay,  incalculable — millions!  Thus  went  war,  uniting  with 
fire  and  steel  these  separate  sovereign  democracies  into  division- 
less  federal  union.  Thus  Russia  trampled  poor  Poland  under 
foot.  Thus  England  holds  Ireland  in  her  network  of  power, 
embraces  the  antipodes,  and  from  her  throne  of  centralization 
watches  a  sun  which  never  sets  upon  her  kingdom. 

Thus  through  government  the  spirit  of  centralization,  waving 
his  torch  of  universalism,  cries: — 

Be  one  in  faith; 

One  in  language; 

One  nationality; 

One  republic; 

Universal; 

One. 

Continuing  in  its  course,  centralization  has  at  last  evolved  a 
monarch  to  whom  all  monarchs  are  tributary  and  all  dynasties  but 
agents, — the  power  behind  every  throne,  the  imperial  autocrat  of 
the  world.  And  all  governments  are  centralized  at  last  into  this 
single,  central  power,  before  whose  all-conquering  emperor  every 
potentate  must  pay  court. 

This  power  into  which  all  others  have  emerged,  need  I  add,  is 
MONEY.     Let  us  examine — analyze — this  government  of  finance. 
.    The  subtlest,  mightiest,  au'd  most  irresistable  lever  in  the  social, 
political,  religious,  and  industrial  fields  to-day  is  finance. 

Finance  moves,  and  your  kings  declare  war;  she  beckons,  and 
they  declare  peace.  Before  her  senates  kneel,  and  their  electors 
kiss  the  hem  of  her  garment,  while  the  countless  throng  salute 
her,  not  with  ovations,  but  with  worship.  She  chooses  if  fleets 
should  deck  the  ocean,  or  lie  idle,  rotting  at  their  piers;  trade  ply 
its  busy  fingers,  or  fold  its  hands  in  idleness;  industry  sweats 
with  over-task,  or  tramp  aimlessly  on  the  road.    She  can  murder 


EVOLUTION,    POLITICAL   AND   SOCIAL.  115 

millions  with  her  pen.  and  yet  not  stain  her  lily  Angers.  She 
shuts  her  palm,  and  into  its  hollow  are  gathered  the  homes  of 
multitudes,  and  forth  upon  the  world  go  the  homeless.  Her 
frowns  or  her  smiles  places  white  or  black  bread  upon  your  table. 
She  cries  unto  the  kings  of  the  earth,  "Bond  unto  me  your  peo- 
ple," and  the  people  forthwith  are  bonded  by  national  debts. 
She  says  to  the  children  of  the  republic:  "You  cannot  build  rail- 
road, telegraph,  water,  agriculture,  illumination,  manufacture,  or 
any  other  department  which  shall  belong  to  yourself.  You  must 
bond  yourselves  to  me,  and  let  me  extract  your  wealth  from  you 
in  the  form  of  interest.  You  must  borrow  my  gold,  silver,  and 
their  credit  to  build  your  public  institutions." 

Must  we?  Yet  there  are  some  who  dream  they  can  give  land 
to  the  people  by  bonding;  can  change  rent  into  interest,  and  call 
it  reform, — change  the  name  of  ''pig"  into  "pork,"  and  then  dream 
it  to  be  mutton.  A  public  institution  built  upon  the  issuing  of 
bonds  is  the  property  of  the  bond-holder.  You  cannot  have  a 
public  institution  which  shall  be  really  a  public  property  until 
you  have  a  public,  a  national,  form  of  finance, — a  finance  of  the 
people.  And  this  present  finance  of  individuals,  like  every  other 
individualism,  must  go,and  the  finance  of  our  America  be  nation- 
alized 

The  center  of  every  individualistic  monopoly  is  the  individualis- 
tic form  of  money.  The  chief  organ  in  the  body  of  every  monop- 
oly is  its  financial  department.  Through  this  the  mind  of  the  in- 
stitution works.  Other  departments  contain  the  nerves,  muscles, 
sinews,  and  frame;  but  through  finance  alone  the  mind  of  monpoly 
connects  with  its  body.  Touch  monopoly  in  its  present  individ- 
ualistic form  of  finance,  and  you  touch  its  brain,  its  very  center. 

This  is  the  last  lesson  of  nationalism  to  be  understood,  and  yet 
the  very  first  to  be  applied  as  we  apply  nationalism,  because  we 
can  build  no  national  institution  without  the  national  certificate 
of  exchange. 

CHAPTER  XLI. 

COULD   MONEY   BE   ABOLISHED? 

Could  money  be  abolished  altogether,  and  society  do  without 
it? 

If  society  were  to  reach  an  'altitude  of  moral  understanding 
whereby  its  members  perfectly  recognized  that  their  own  eleva- 
tion in  reality  exclusively  depended  upon  their  individual  effort 
to  elevate  society;  that  such  effort  singly  and  alone  builds  up  and 
enriches  the  individual, — first,  in  broadening,  deepening  his  spirit- 
ual nature;  second,  in  raising  and  enriching  the  necessary  societary 
environments;  that  only  through  these  two  mentioned  medims 
can  the  mind  and  body  of  any  person  expand  unto  real  happiness, 
wealth,  or  power  here  or  elsewhere,— then  a  society  composed  of 
persons  having  reached  such  altitude  of  understanding  and  such 
morality  would  have  no  use  for  money  or  proportionlizing  prin- 
ciple in  order  to  apportion  their  general  wealth.  Each  person  of 
such  community  would  find  his  labor  a  labor  of  love,  and  would 
feel  just  as  a  mother  now  feels  in  her  effort  for  a  dearly  beloved 


116  COULD   MONEY    BE   ABOLISHED? 

child.  This  sentiment  inspiring  the  effort  of  all;  each  pouring 
out  his  best  energy  everywhere  for  thegeneral  wealth,  the  general 
wealth  would  soon  reach  unparalleled  proportions  and  the  pro- 
rata of  each  would  become  more  than  the  boasted  indivualistic  for- 
tunes of  ancient  or  modern  millionaire.  Then  the  situation  would ' 
become  reversed;  and  as  you  have  beheld  brothers  or  friends  stiv- 
ing  to  see  who  would  first  pay  each  other's  fare  upon  the  cars, 
you  would  then  behold  the  dominant  aim  of  man  to  be  to  see 
who  would  give  the  most  to  a  brother,  not,  as  now,  who  will  take 
the  most  from  a  brother.  Then  each  person  would  have  the  en- 
tire wealth  of  society  at  his  back,  and  the  general  wealth  being 
so  tremendous,  none  would  want  for  aught.  Thus,  in  such  state 
all  distributing  or  apportionalizing  mediums  would  be  superfluous 
and  money  would  cease  its  existence.  But  this  would  be  a  reign 
of  love.  And  man  must  pass  through  a  reign  of  justice  previous 
to  this, — a  school  of  commercial  truth, — a  state  which  he  has 
never  yet  passed  through,  or  he  would  now  be  enjoying  the  plane 
of  affairs  we  have  above  described. 

Justice  is  as  a  vestibule  to  the  temple  of  love, — love's  precious 
condition.  We  must  first  establish  a  just  proportionalizing  med- 
ium, whereby  each  member  of  society  will  receive  a  voucher  from 
society  recognizing  and  declaring  the  just  degree  or  proportion 
of  the  general  wealth  which  the  holders  are  entitled  to  according 
to  the  exact  effort  they  have  individually  put  forth.  This 
establishes  a  just  state  of  exchange,  and  through  this  just  state 
man  takes  on  that  higher  justice  called  love,  to  which  justice 
finally  becomes  barbarous  in  comparison. 

But  under  the  present  auspieces  of  individualism's  mental  and 
moral  depression, — auspiceb  wherein  individualism's  highest  aim 
appears  to  be  to  determine  how  mush  it  can  extract  from  thegen- 
eral wealth,  instead  of  how  much  it  can  give, — the  abolition  of 
money  would  amount  to  naught;  for  were  money  to  be  completely 
abolished  suddenly  today,  and  all  property  placed  in  common,  in 
our  present  immoral  atcrosphere  of  understanding,  the  general 
wealth  so  placed  would  soon  melt  back  again  into  individual  pro- 
prietorship, and  society  gain  nothing  save  a  change  of  masters. 

We  have  said  that  man  at  the  center  is  pure,  and  all  that  is 
necessary  is  to  allow  him  to  do  right  and  he  will  do  right.  But 
m;tn  is  not  made  in  a  generation:  he  is  the  product  of  generations; 
and  it  requires  generations  of  just  conditions  allowing  man  to  pur- 
ify exteriorly  before  he  puts  forth  his  central  truth.  In  the 
third  or  forth  generation  of  a  just  system  of  exchange,  man  will 
cast  off  the  circumferential  errors  of  his  previous  civilizations,  and 
through  his  increasing  perceptions  will  clearly  perceive  the  higher 
truths  of  the  love  condition,  which  by  the  laws  of  intellectual  at- 
traction, he  will  quickly  enter.  When  he  does  so,  after  having 
become  fitted  for  it  by  passing  through  the  previous  period  of  a 
just  relationship  with  his  fellow-being  through  a  just  money,  then 
a  "community"  wealth  and  an  abolition  of  money  will  become 
a  positively  established  fact;  for  it  will  then  have  become 
established  at  the  center,  or  in  the  mind  of  every  individual. 
Then  the  general  wealth  will  remain  general,  there  being  hardly 
selfishness  enough  to  exploit  it,  and  an  intelligence  developed  suf- 


COULD   MONEY    BE   ABOLISHED?  117 

ficent  enough  to  defend  it,  society  will  not  have  merely  changed 
masters;  but  have  evoluted  through  systems,— will  have  educated 
itself  up  to  justice,  through  a  just  exchange;  and  once  educated 
up  to  justice,  it  will  have  no  further  use  for  its  educational 
instrument,  "money,"  which,  like  a  book  once  learned,  will  then 
be  laid  aside. 

Thus  the  natonalization  of  finance  would  prepare  the  necessary 
condition  of  society  whereby  money  could  be  ultimately  abolished, 
— a  condition  impossible  without  the  previous  establishment  of  a 
collective  instrument  of  exchange. 

To-day  we  find  that  those  who  produce  the  wealth  are  with- 
out the  wealth.  This  state  of  affairs  could  not  exist  save  through 
some  hoscuspocus  of  exchange,  whereby  the  innocent  aboriginal 
is  given  a  few  glass  beads  for  the  broad  fertile  hunting-grounds 
of  his  fathers,  and  through  our  present  system  of  finance,  or 
money,  labor  is  given  a  few  worthless  pieces  of  shining  metals  for 
all  the  vast  wealth  which  it  creates.  It  is  the  savage  and  the 
glass  beads  over  again,  and  it  is  the  modern  savage  standing 
bereft  of  his  birthright  through  an  unjust  exchange  over  again. 
It  is  man  that  gives  gold  and  silver  their  value  by  his  use  of  them; 
the  more  he  uses  them  the  more  their  value.  The  use  of  gold 
and  silver  as  an  exchange  medium  by  man  is  the  reason  of  their 
present  value;  if  man  were  to  cease  this  use,  gold  and  silver 
would  fall  to  their  commodity  value, — about  one  hundredth  of 
their  present  price.  So  the  savage  gave  the  worthless  beads 
value  (a  value  which  existed  merely  in  his  innocent  enrapture 
over  their  glitter,  glow,  and  color,— which  glitter  and  glow,  and 
cost  him  his  broad  acres,  and  sent  him  forth  homeless), — so  we 
too,  poor  savages,  child-like,  exchange  our  wealth  for  the  glitter 
and  the  glow  of  metals,  and  find  ourselves  homeless  as  our 
brother  savages  of  the  beads. 

This  present  system  of  exchange  which  takes  the  broad  acres 
of  tha  red  savage  and  the  broad  wealth  of  the  white  and  the 
black, — this  exchange  of  shining  beads  and  metals  for  solid  wealth 
and  solid  lands,— is  what  we  term  an  unjust  system  of  exchange. 
But  a  system  of  exchange  whereby  hour  is  exchanged  for  hour, 
equivalent,  for  equivalent,  where  beads  nor  metals  cannot  rob  us 
unsophisticated  Indisns,  but  are  replaced  by  an  honest  instru- 
ment through  which  an  unfare  advantage  cannot  succeed,  is  what 
we  term  a  just  system  of  exchange,  and  which  we  will  analize 
and  fully  explain  later,— a  system  which  all  must  comprehend  in 
order  to  bring  about  a  means  whereby,  under  our  present  form 
of  affairs,  without  overturning  society,  without  rout,  disturbance, 
or  revolution,  but  as  calmly  and  as  peacefully  as  the  plant 
unfolds  to  tree,  these  institutions  can  be  evoluted  into  national- 


118  THE  vagabonds;  or,  the  bonded  vags. 

CHAPTER    XLII. 

THE  vagabonds;  or,  the  bonded  vags. 

A    TALE, 

Revealing  the  Instrument  through  Which  our  Institutions  can  be  National- 
ized from  the  Present  Individualism  into  the  Future  Collectivism. 


Evolving  a  Civilization  Based  upon  Justice,  Culminating  in  a  Government 

of  All  for  One  and  One  for  All— Individual  Sovereignty 

and  a  Perfect    Democracy. 


Destroying     Landlordism,     Shylockism,     Law-lord-ism,     Pauperism,    Rent, 
Interest,  Profit— or  Labor  Piracy. 


THE    PROCESS. 

The  seed  we  do  sow 

Will  flourish  and  grow. 

Though  falsehood  and  tempest  pursue ; 

And  Time  shall  undo 

The  false  and  untrue ; 

And  Truth,  like  a  star 

Through  mist  and  the  dew, 

Will  light  up  the  darkness  below. 

The     Homeless,     Houseless     Vagabonds— The    Sage— The    Man    with     the 

Hooked   Nose— The   Man   with   the  Fat  Paunch— The  Tramp 

Murderers— The  Riot— The  People— The  Remedy— 

The  New  Civilization. 


They  were  tramps. 

They  met  upon  the  dusty  road,  beneath  a  willow  whose 
branches  shaded  the  silvery  waters  of  a  spring. 

They  stood, — a  weaver,  tailor,  hatter,  shoemaker,  and  carpenter. 

In  the  hollow  of  their-  palms  they  gathered  up  the  waters  to 
quench  their  thirst, — then  drank  again  to  quench  their  hunger. 

Then  spake  the  weaver,  saying: — 

"Friends,  you  are  ragged.  My  brother  the  tailor  and  I  weave 
cloth  and  make  garments.  We  have  traveled  one  thousand 
miles  seeking  a  chance  to  weave  and  sew.  You  want  clothes. 
We  want  to  make  clothes.  What  prevents  us  from  covering  you 
with  linen  and  broadcloth?" 

His  hearers  answered  not,  but  gazed  upon  the  sun,  the  waters, 
and  the  land. 

They  thought  in  silence: — 

"We  are  ragged.  This  weaver  and  this  tailor  would  like  an  op- 
portunity to  clothe  us,  yet  cannot.    What  is  the  matter?" 

Then  spake  the  shoemaker,  saying: — 

"Gentlemen,  your  unproteced  feet  are  bruised  and  soiled  from 
contact  with  the  I'oads.  I  am  a  shoemaker.  I  have  traveled  one 
thousand  miles  seeking  a  chance  to  make  shoes  for  somebody. 
You  want  shoes.  I  want  to  make  shoes.  What  prevents 
me  from  making  and  you  from  having?" 

They  answered  not,  but  again  they  thought; — 

"We  are  shoeless.    This  shoemoker  would  make  shoes  for  us 


THE  vagabonds;  or,  the  bonded  vags.  119 

What  prevents  him?     What  is  the  matter?'* 

Then  spake  the  hatter: — 

"Gentlemen,  you  are  without  hats.  1  have  traveled  one  thou- 
sand miles  to  get  a  chance  to  make  hats.  You  want  hats.  I 
want  to  make  hats.  What  prevents  me  from  making  and  you 
from  having?" 

With  their  idle  palms  they  shaded  their  eyes  from  the  noonday 
sun,  and  answered  not,  but  thought:— 

"What  is  the  matter?" 

Then  spake  the  carpenter,  saying: — 

"Gentlemen,  you  are  houseless.  No  roof  protects  you.  You 
sleep  upon  the  roads  or  in  the  fields.  I  am  a  carpenter.  I  have 
traveled  one  thousand  miles  seeking  a  chance  to  build  houses. 
You  want  houses.  I  want  to  build  houses.  What  prevents  me 
from  building  and  you  from  having?" 

They  marveled  much;  then  slowly  answered:-  • 

"Yes,  but  to  build  houses  you  need  the  necessary  materials. 
You  have  them  not,  neither  have  we." 

"Materials?  Gentlemen,  did  you  say  you  needed  materials?"  in- 
quired a  merchant,  who,  in  passing,  had  heard  the  remark.  "I 
am  a  merchant,  I  have  materials  of  every  nature  for  building  and 
manufacture.  If  I  do  not  find  a  market  erelong,  I  shall  be 
ruined.  The  times  are  hard.  Several  large  firms  have  failed.  It 
seems  as  though  no  one  needed  materials  for  shoemaking,  hat- 
making,  clothing,  or  building.  I  am  delighted  to  find  that  at 
least  you  need  them.    Come,  give  me  your  order  immediately." 

They  shook  their  heads  and  answered: — 

"Nay.  Though  we  need  your  msterials,  and  you  need  to  supply 
us;  though  we  need  to  shape  your  materials,  and  you  need  them 
shaped, — neither  can  be  of  advantage  to  the  other." 

The  shoemaker  gazed  at  his  ragged  coat,  the  tailor  at  his 
broken  shoes. 

A  person  approached.  His  features  were  darkly  browned  with 
out-door  toil;  he  wore  a  kindly  and  intelligent  expression.  He 
addressed  the  gathering,  saying: — 

"Brothers,  do  you  not  hunger?" 

They  answered: — 

"Several  have  not  tasted  food  since  yesterday.  But  why  do 
you  ask?" 

"Because  in  yonder  granary  I  have  grain;  in  my  orchard,  lus- 
cious fruits;  in  my  cellars,  cool,  delcious  creams.  I  am  anxiously 
seeking  whoever  need  these  sweet  necessities  of  life." 

They  answered: — 

"You  anxiously  seek;  we  seek  more  anxiously.  Yet  had  you 
ten  thousand  times  as  much,  and  were  we,  who  need,  ten  thou- 
sand times  as  many,  your  grain  must  mildew,  your  fruit  must  rot, 
your  cream  must  mold,  and  we  who  need  must  need." 

"What  1"  exclaimed  the  farmer,  "can  you  not  take  from  off  my 
hands  this  year's  produce?  I  shall  be  ruined.  My  barn  and 
house  need  repairing.  Myself  and  family  need  clothes,  shoes,  and 
other  necessities.  I  am  in  debt  and  mortgaged,  /  shall  lose  my 
home.  Y'ou  say  you  hunger, — the  world  hungers.  Why  should 
the  world  hunger  and  my  produce  rot,— making  me,  the  producer 


120  THE  vagabonds;  or,  the  bonded  vags. 

of  wealth,  a  pauper?" 

"Indeed,  these  are  strange  times,"  said  the  merchant.  "Each 
possesses  the  other's  want;  and  although  we  are  all  in  possession 
of  all,  we  are  all  in  want  of  all.    What  is  the  matter?'. 

By  this  time  a  vast  concourse  had  gathered;  among  them  men 
and  women  of  every  clime  and  nationality.  Some  were  ragged 
and  of  soiled  garments;  others  of  better  form  and  dress;  many 
appeared  as  people  who  had  followed  the  professions  for  a  liveli- 
hood. All  alike  bore  tsorrowful  countenances,  and  seemed  weary 
and  worn.  Presently  a  person  of  thoughtful  expression  ad- 
dressed the  multitude,  saying:  "Yes,  comrades,  we  have  every- 
thing in  this  fair  land,  and  yet  to-day,  how^  many  of  us  have  trav- 
eled footsore  and  weary.  I  am  a  civil  engineer.  I  have  here  the 
plans  and  details  of  a  railroad.  My  friend  here,"  and  he  Ipointed 
to  a  young  man  beside  him,  "is  a  surveyor  who  would  like  to  sur- 
vey the  lines  for  its  construction.  Materials  are  everywhere  in 
abundance,  and  you  here  possess  the  skill  and  strength  to  com- 
plete and  operate  the  road.  I  understand  that  there  are  many 
here  seeking  such  employment,  and  I  am  sure  that  there  are 
many  of  you  who  understand  the  several  branches  of  railroad  and 
telegraph  construction,  and  who  would  like  to  carry  out  these 
plans  and  surveys,  and  set  to  work  immediately  building  the 
grandest  system  of  railroads  and  telegraphs  the  world  has  yet 
known.  Now,  then,  railroads  being  in  demand,  here  is  the  op- 
portunity." 

Immediately  an  immense  tumult  arose,  and  the  gathering, 
which  had  now  swelled  into  a  countless  sea  of  people,  swayed  as 
a  storm  at  sea,  and  amid  the  uproar  you  could  hear  the  words — 

"I  understand  the  business;"  "I  understand  the  work;"  "Hire 
me;"  "Engage  me;  "Give  me  work;"  "Give  me  a  contract;" 
and  the  immense  throng  crushed  around  the  engineer. 

Waving  his  hand  in  token  of  silence,  the  loud  clamors  sub- 
sided, and  he  said: — 

"Nay  good  people,  I  myself  am  seeking  an  engagement  or  con- 
tract. This  being  a  grand  opportunity  to  build  a  railroad,  ma- 
terial and  labor  plenty,  and  railroads  in  demand,  I  thought  there 
might  be  some  one  in  this  vast  number  to  employ  me." 

"Bah!"  they  cried,  and  with  threatening  scrowls,  drew  away 
from  him  as  he  replied: — 

"How  can  I  hire  people  to  build  a  railroad?  Don't  you  per- 
ceive I  am  as  insolvent  as  the  old  tramp  over  there?"  and  he 
pointed  to  a  mass  of  dilapidation— "as  these  well-dressed  individ- 
uals like  myself.  Our  wealth  is  confined  solely  to  our  appear- 
ance. Is  there  no  one  here,  then,  who  can  engage  my  friend  the 
surveyor  and  me?" 

Then  there  arose  a  loud  laugh  of  derision,  and  an  editor,  whose 
paper  had  failed  because  his  patrons  were  unable  to  pay,  and  one 
who  wrote  much  on  such  questions  said:  "My  friend  you  are 
looking  for  capital.  Capiral  builds  railroads,  not  labor.  We 
represent  labor.    We  can  do  nothing  in  the  premises." 

"Yes,"  remarked  an  electrician  who  thoroughly  understood 
telegraphy  and  its  several  associated  branches.  "I  am  here  the 
eame  as  you  all, — tied  up  for  the  want  of  something  to  do.    It  ap- 


THE  vagabonds;  or,  the  bonded  vags.  121 

pears  to  me  if  we  were  all  set  to  work  right  here  for  ourselves,  we 
would  soon  have  each  other  supplied,  and  it  would  not  take 
aquarter  of  our  time  to  do  it,  either.  But  we  cannot.  It  is  out  of 
the  question,  for  we  have  everpthing  to  do  it  with  but  one  thing, 
and  that  thing  is — " 

"Capital!"  interrupted  a  thousand  throats. 

And  the  electrician  continued:  "Ay,  indeed,  these  are  strange 
times.  Each  posesses  the  other^s  wants;  and  although  we  are  in 
posession  of  all,  toe  are  all  in  want  of  all.  You  say  we  only  need 
capital.    What  is  capital?" 

Then  from  the  vast  concourse  went  up  the  word: — 

"Money  1" 

"Ah,  they  exclaimed,  if  we  had  money!  Then  we  could  pur- 
chase the  farmer's  food  and  the  merchant's  materials,  while  in 
turn  they  could  purchase  our  manufacture.  Thus  could  each  ex- 
change labor  for  labor,  bringing  plenty  and  happiness  to  all." 

'•Money?"  interrogated  the  farmer.  "What  is  money  that  it 
should  stand  between  starvation  and  food,  labor  and  wealth,  hu- 
manity and  happiness. 

"Ay,  what  is  money  that  it  should  be  your  idol, — your  god?" 
added  a  voice  beside  them. 

They  turned  to  behold  the  speaker.  There  was  nothing 
supremely  remarkable  in  his  casaul  appearance.  Time  had 
slightly  touched  his  plentiful  locks.  Pain  had  set  her  seal  of 
scars  upon  his  front.  Progress  had  molded  her  presence  upon 
his  features.  From  beneath  his  spacious  brows  he  looked  out 
upon  the  vagabonds.  As  their  eyes  met,  the  tramps  felt  awed  by 
soicething  they  knew  not  what.  Addressing  them,  speaking  as 
though  in  solioquy,  he  said: — 

"Money?  Poor  phantom-worshippers.  You  ask  what  is  money? 
Know  then  'tis  the  shadow  of  a  reality, — a  reality  which  has  de- 
serted you  because  of  your  blasphemous  worship  of  its  shadow. 
O  slaves!  You  have  chiseled  an  idol  from  out  the  rocks,  and 
kneeling  before  it,  have  proclaimed  it  creator.  Victims  of  a  me- 
tallic superstition!  What  has  gold  or  silver  more  to  do  with  you 
than  other  substances?  As  your  deluded  sires  believed  in  the  di- 
vinity of  kings,  even  so  you,  their  sons,  do  now  believe  in  a  divin- 
ity of  metals.  Here  you  stand,  posessing  all  and  everything 
necessary  to  your  life  and  comfort;  yet  you  stand  idle,  perishing, 
famishing, — and  for  what?  Nothing,  save  a  rule  or  measure  to 
measure  the  exchange  of  your  labors.  This  measure  is  but  a  scale 
which  you  have  termed  'mills,  cents,  dimes,  and  dollars.'  You 
will  not  stamp  this  rule  or  scale  upon  some  suitable  material  on 
hand,  but  like  a  carpenter  insane  you  cry:  "I  have  the  material 
and  skill  to  build  me  a  house,  and  need  me  a  rule  to  work  by; 
but  I  will  fashion  my  rule  on  gold  and  silver,  or  else  not  build  at 
all.'  And  thus  you  bond  God's  land,  your  life,  your  child  unborn, 
unto  some  usurer  for  his  metal's  loan,  and  build  a  house,  not  for 
yourself,  but  for  the  Shylock,  and  call  it  interest." 

The  vagabonds  listened  to  this  strange  utterance  with  astonish- 
ment. It  seemed  to  them  blasphemous.  They  shrank  away  from 
the  stranger  with  dislike  and  fear.  He  had  denounced  gold  and 
accused  them  of  superstition.    They  answered: — 


122  THE  vagabonds;  or,  the  bonded  vags. 

"Nay.  We  worship  not  the  metal.  Money  is  the  great  neces- 
sity. We  stamp  and  base  our  money  upon  gold  and  silver  only, 
simply  because  they  are  the  scarcest  and  therefore  the  most 
precious  of  metals," 

"If  money  is  a  necessity,  and  gold  and  silver  are  scarcities,  then 
gold  and  silver  are  unfitted  for  money;  for  that  which  is  nec- 
essary should  never  be  confined  unto  that  which  is  scarce,"  was 
the  answer. 

They  laughed,  and  with  derision  asked:— 

"Would  you  have  us  labor  and  receive  a  worthless  piece  of 
paper  in  payment?" 

"Yet  you  labor  and  receive  a  worthless  piece  of  metal  in  pay- 
ment," suggested  the  stranger. 

"But  what  would  redeem  a  paper  money?"  they  asked. 

"What  now  redeems  your  gold  and  silver?"  was  the  rejoinder. 

They  answered  not. 

"Is  it  not  labor?"  was  the  suggestion. 

"Yes,"  they  answered. 

"Then,  since  it  is  labor  which  redeems  all  money,  labor  should 
be  the  basis  of  all  money.  You  should  change  this  golden  rule 
for  a  labor  rule.'''' 

"Ah!  but  the  metals  pay  us,  and  paper  does  not." 

"Money  never  pays  you;  it  is  but  the  representative,  not  the 
pay.  You  are  never  paid  until  you  receive  a  full  equivalent 
wealth  for  the  wealth  you  have  given.  It  is  this  delusion  that 
money  pay.s  you  by  WHICH"  you  are  robbed." 

"But  we  must  have  a  value  to  measure  values.  A  dollar  must 
be  stamped  on  some  material  worth  a  dollar,  or  otherwise 
how  could  it  be  a  dollar?" 

"Would  the  carpenter's  rule  be  more  a  rule  if  made  of  gold,  or 
less  a  rule  if  made  of  some  cheaper  material?" 

They  answered  not. 

"Would  the  merchant's  scales  weigh  better,  or  his  gill,  pint,  or 
quart  pots  measure  better,  if  made  of  gold  or  silver?" 

They  snswered  not. 

"Then  why  must  this  measure  be  stamped  on  gold  or  silver 
only? 

They  answered  not. 

"Why  should  the  carpenter's  rule  be  equal  in  value  to  the  house 
erected  by  its  scale?" 

They  answered  not. 

"Why  should  the  material  out  of  which  the  quart-pot  is  made 
be  equal  in  value  to  the  fluid  measured,  or  declare  it  not  a  quart- 
pot?" 

They  answered  not. 

"Metal- worshippers,  you  are  mad.  Money  should  be  the  mere 
tool  of  manhood  and  virtue.  Behold,  you  have  made  manhood 
and  virtue  the  tools  of  money." 

"How  have  we  done  this?"    they  inquired. 

The  sage  turned,  and,  with  a  gesture,  pointed  to  the  road. 
There,  before  them,  stood  a  gorgeous  equipage,  drawn  by  a  span 
of  shining,  well-fed  steeds,  radiant  in  gold  and  silver  trappings. 
Upon   the    front  and  rear  of  the  affair  sat  a  driver  and  footman 


THE  vagabonds;  or,  the  bonded  vacs.  123 

clad  in  livery.  Reclining  upon  luxurious  cushions  lolled  a  fat 
personage  clad  in  linen  and  broadcloth.  The  only  remarkable 
features  of  this  personage  were  a  nose  hooked  like  a  bird  of  prey, 
and  two  little  eyes  that  looked  out  at  the  tramps  like  two  spiders. 
Turning  to  the  vagabonds,  the  sage  cried  aloud: — 

"Behold!  the  high-priest  of  your  metallic  superstition." 

The  vagabonds  no  sooner  beheld  this  personage  than  tliey 
bowed  very  low  and  reverent;  for  they  perceived  him  to  be  a  man 
of  great  responsibility  and  influence;  in  fact,  a  central  pillar  of 
society,  religion,  order,  and  law, 

"Gentlemen,"  softly  said  the  personage,  "I  think  I  hear  you 
mention  money?  You  must  work  to  get  money.  Why  don't  you 
work?" 

They  lowered  their  eyes  and  answered: — 

"We  have    traveled  sir,  one  thousand  miles  in  search  of  em 
ployment.     Not  finding  it,  we  have  become  ragged  and  hungry,  as 
you  perceive." 

"Ah,  gentleman!  What  a  great  thing  is  my  gold  and  silver! 
You  see  you  starve  without  it.  It  feeds,  clothes,  and  gives  you  a 
place  to  sleep." 

"Nay!"  rejoined  the  sage.  "Your  gold  and  silver  give  these 
good  people  nothing,  though  they  give  you  everything.  All  they 
need  is  a  co-operative  currency, — a  measure  to  measure  the 
exchange  of  their  labors.  Were  they  to  stamp  that  measure  upon 
their  own  paper,  instead  of  your  gold  and  silver,  your  paper 
bonds  and  mortgages  would  become  but  memories  of  a  past 
savagery.  They  would  then  labor  for  themselves,  and  not,  as 
they  do  now,  for  you  through  your  metals." 

"Gentlemen!"  cried  the  man  with  the  hooked  nose,  "this  fellow 
who  has  just  spoken  is  stark  crazy.  Just  such  fellows  as  he  are 
upsetting  Russia,  Germany,  and  Spain,  and  are  trying  to  blow  up 
the  landlords  of  Ireland.  He  is  against  capital,  my  friends!  Why 
if  you  listen  to  him,  you  will  soon  lose  respect  for  the  sacred  in- 
stitutions of  your  great-grandfathers.  He  is  a  nihilist,  a  com- 
munist, socialist,  a  fenian,  a  woman-rightist,  a  land-leaguer,  an 
abolitionist,  a  free-thinker! 

The  tramps  shrank  away  from  the  sage;  for  they  strongly  sus- 
pected his  connection  with  the  Evil  One.  They  were  educated 
to  believe  in  the  man  with  the  hooked  nose. 

"He's  what  my  friend  the  great  Rothschild  calls  'a  crazy  agita- 
tor',— a  fellow  who  would  drive  my  gold  and  silver  away  from  you, 
and  leave  you  and  your  poor  wives  and  children  to  starve  and  to 
wander  around  naked  like  wild  beasts."  And  the  man  with  the 
hooked  nose  wiped  a  tear  from  his  spider-eyes. 

They  scrowled  upon  the  sage,  and  cried:  "Shame,  shame, 
shame!" 

The  sage  smiled  bitterly;  for  he  thought  of  one  who,  eighteeu 
hundred  years  ago,  had  overthrown  the  tables  of  the  money-chang- 
ers in  the  temple,  and  whom  ignorance  and  selfishness  'aad  cruci- 
fied. 

"Gentlemen,  you  want  money? — good  heavy,  shining  gold  and 
silver  money?  Something  that  you  can  see,  and  feel,  and  know 
is  real  money?" 


124  THE  vagabonds;  or,  the  bonded  VAGS. 

"Yes,  yesl"  they  cried  eagerly.  "Something  that  is  good  and 
heavy  and  shining;  that  we  can  all  feel  and  see!" 

"Well,  here  in  my  strong-box  I  have  good,  solid,  heavy  gold  and 
silver." 

"Ah,  ahl"  they  sighed  with  delight. 

"When  you  put  your  money  stamp  upon  it,  it  will  be  money." 

"Yes,  yes!"  they  cried  eagerly. 

"But  why  put  their  stamp  upon  it,  if  it  the  metal  which 
makes  it  money?  Do  you  not  see  that  it  is  their  stamp  which  is 
money?"  interrupted  the  sage. 

"My  friends,  he  don't  understand  the  great  money  question!" 
said  the  man  with  the  hooked  nose. 

"No,  no!  not  him,  the  crank!"  they  cried. 

"I  will  now  show  you  the  great  money  question,"  he  said;  "I 
will  take  some  of  my  gold  and  silver  out  of  my  strong-box,  and 
you  will  put  your  money  stamp  upon  it  and  make  it  money,  and 
then  I  will  buy,  at  my  own  price,  all  the  grain,  fruit,  and  cream 
of  our  good  friend  the  farmer  here." 

"But  what  benefit  will  that  be  to  these  good  people,  to  put 
their  stamp  upon  your  metal  and  give  it  power  to  purchase  their 
wealth?"  again  interrupted  the  sage. 

"You  don't  understand  the  great  money  question,  my  friend." 

"No,  no,  the  crank, — he's  crazy!"  cried  the  assemblage,  and  the 
man  with  hooked  nose  continued:— 

"I  will  now  take  some  more  of  my  gold  and  silver  out  of  my 
strong-box,  and  you  will  put  your  money  stamp  on  it  and  make  it 
money  as  before,  and  I  will  buy,  at  my  own  price,  all  the  materials 
of  our  good  friend  the  merchant  here." 

"Again  I  ask  what  benefit  will  this  be  unto  these  poor  people?" 
interrupted  the  sage. 

"You  don't  understand  the  great  money  question,"  was  the 
answer.  "I  will  show  you,  my  friend,  how  capital  feeds,  clothes, 
shelters,  and  employs  labor.  I  will  take  some  more  of  my  gold 
and  silver  out  of  my  strong-box,  and  you  will  put  on  your  money 
stamp  as  before,  and  I  will  have  the  food,  the  material  and  the 
money." 

"And  have  these  unthinking  people  completely  in  your  power," 
added  the  sage. 

"Now,  then,  I  will  set  you  building  railroads,  telegraphs,  manu- 
factories, palaces,  ships,  and  other  things  for  me.  I  will  buy  up 
the  mines  and  the  lands  and  the  water,  and  everything  for  me. 
And  then  I  will  put  you  all  to  work,  work,  work.  More  work  than 
you  want.  I  will  give  you  ten,  twelve,  fourteen,  sixteen, eighteen 
hours  a  day,  at  a  dollar  a  day,  for  six  good  long  months,  and  then 
I  will  discharge  you,  and  give  you  all  a  good  long  rest." 

"Ahl"  they  cried.  "But  why  do  you  not  keep  us  working  all  the 
time?" 

"Because,  my  friends,  you  make  enough  in  six  months  to  last 
the  whole  year  round.  You  overstock  the  market, — I  have  to 
wait  until  it  is  used  up  before  I  can  work  you  again." 

"Do  you  not  perceive  that  the  very  gold  and  silver  he  gives  you 
for  your  toil  you  have  to  again  return  to  }iim  for  a  bare  sufficiency 
of  the  necessaries  of  life?  that  at  the  end  of  six  months  he  is  pos- 


THE  vagabonds;  ok,  the  bonded  vags.  125 

sessed  of  all  which  your  labor  has  produced,  together  with  the 
gold  and  silver  he  has  given  you,  back  again  in  his  strong-box?" 
said  the  sage.  They  nodded  acquiescence;  for  they  knew  only 
too  well  the  truth  of  the  remarks.  The  light  began  to  break  in 
upon  their  toil-stunted  brains.     They  cried: — 

"You  have  given  us  but  enough  for  our  support  during  our  toil, 
— the  slave's  reward.  At  the  end  of  six  months,  with  six  month's 
idleness  staring  us  in  the  face,  what  are  we  going  to  do,— you  hav- 
ing everything,  and  we  having  nothing?" 

"Ah,  my  friends,"  answered  the  man  with  the  spider-eyes,  "you 
don't  understand  over-production.  I  am  capital;  you  are  labor. 
My  gold  and  silver  keeps  you  from  starving  for  six  months.  You 
could  not  expect  me  to  keep  you  from  starving  a  whole  year.  Be 
grateful;  be  reasonable;  be  thankful.  Read  what  Economy  tells 
you  about  bread  and  water.  One  dollar  a  day  for  six  months 
ought  to  keep  you  for  one  year  on  bread  and  water.  Economy, 
my  friends,  is  the  great  solution  of  over-production." 

"I  cannot  perceive  how  your  economy  would  benefit  this  com- 
munity. If  each  were  to  save,  and  at  last  buy  no  more  hats, 
clothes,  nor  shoes,  and  get  down  to  the  quintessence  of  you  idea, 
and  eat  but  grains  of  wheat,  and,  still, furthereconomizing,finally 
dispense  with  that,  and  confine  their  economical  orgies  alone  to 
water, — cheap,  wholesome,  economical  water, — water  for  entree, 
dinner,  dessert,  soup  and  salid, — verily,  would  not  every  branch 
of  industry  cease,  save  this  one  great  economical  branch  of  thine, 
— pumps  and  wells?  Is  not  the  opposite  the  truth, — that  the 
more  they  consume  the  greater  the  demand  for  their  production; 
the  more  a  people  spend,  the  more  the  employment  they  create, 
the  better  the  times?  Their  money  thus  circulated  brings  to 
others,  and  thus  truly  to  themselves.  Strange,  indeed,  is  thy  doc- 
trine, that  meanness  and  sordidness  is  the  foundation  upon  which 
society  must  erect  its  pillars.  Stranger,  indeed,  thy  philosophy, 
that  to  starve  is  to  subsist,  and  yet  not  more  peculiar  than  to  dis- 
robe me  entire,  and  inform  me  that  you  are  protecting  me  from 
the  elements.  Yet  O  Mammon,  this  you  do,  and  are  doing  unto 
the  people  with  thy  siphon  called  capital,  the  while  informing 
them  that  the  more  they  make,  the  less  they  should  eat;  or  the 
more  a  people  produce,  the  less  they  should  consume;  or  if  a 
people  in  six  months  produce  enough  to  last  for  twelve  months, 
they  should  study  economy,  the  science  of  starvation,  the  remain- 
ing six,"  explained  the  sage. 

"Stop!  Stop!"  yelled  the  man  with  the  strong-box.  "You  will 
all  go  crazy  thinking  on  these  deep,  deep  questions.  These  subjects 
are  for  capital,  not  for  labor.  Capital  is  brains,  labor  is  only 
muscle.    Thinking  spoils  miiscle;  brains  spoil  a  workingman." 

"Ah,  did  they  but  do  a  little  more  of  their  own  thinking,  they 
would  enjoy  a  little  more  of  their  own  wealth.  The  greater  the 
nobility  of  thought,  the  less  the  servility  of  labor.  Their  ignor- 
ance is  their  wrechedness;  their  hope  of  redemption,  their  advanc- 
ing thought."  As  the  sage  uttered  these  words,  a  second  carriage 
halted  upon  the  road.  Lolling  upon  its  cushions  sat  a  plump, 
somber,  broadcloth-clad  individual,  with  a  ponderously  developed 
paunch,  fattened  with  the  good  things  of  life.    He  gazed  upon  the 


126  THE  vagabonds;  or,  the  bonded  vags. 

wrechedneBS  of  the  tramps  complaceotly,  and  rolling  his  fat  eyes 
upward  until  their  whites  resembled  two  hard-boiled  eggs,  he, 
from  the  bottom  of  his  paunch,  breathed  a  sigh  redolent  with 
wine,  roast  chicken,  pastry,  buttered  toast,  and  fragrant  teas,  and 
droning  heavily  through  his  nose,  addressed  the  homeless,  house- 
less vagabonds; — 

"Poor,  unhappy  mortalsl  What  a  blessing  it  is  to  known  that 
the  poorer  we  are  on  earth,  the  greater  the  treasures  we  lay  up  in 
heaven;  that  'tis  harder  for  a  rich  man  to  enter  the  gates  than 
for  a  camel  to  pass  through  the  eye  of  a  needle.    Ah !" 

The  man  with  the  strong-box  became  delighted,  and  cried:  "Yes, 
yes,  my  friend;  that  is  the  doctrine  I  These  tramps  have  the  best 
of  me;  they  ought  to  be  satisfied.  Here  in  this  lite  for  a  few  years 
/  have  everything;  then  they  have  everything  in  the  next  life. 
What  a  beautiful  doctrine  for  them,  and  how  hard  it  is  on  me,  to 
be  sure!  But  then  we  must  support  the  rich;  for  what  would  we 
do  without  the  poor?"  Here  the  sacred  man  again  sighed  from  the 
bottom  of  his  paunch,  and  droning  through  his  nose,  again  com- 
forted the  vagabonds:  "Blessed  are  they  who  weep.  Ah!  Blessed 
are  they  who  suffer.     Ah!" 

"Obey  them  who  rule  over  you!" 

"Verily,"  cried  the  sage,  "you  both  have  one  philosophy,  viz., 
starvation, — bread  and  water  for  over-production;  rags  and  an 
empty  stomach  for  salvation, — a  philosophy  which  neither  of  you 
seem  to  practice,  since  you  both  prefer  a  warm  coat  and  a  full 
body."  A  dark  thought  overspread  the  face  of  the  man  with  the 
fat  paunch  as  he  replied: — 

"This  man  is  a  heretic,  an  infidel,  a  disturbing  element,  a  creator 
of  discontent  among  the  masses.  There  were  times  when  the 
faithful  would  compel  such  as  he  to  regard  the  souls  of  others, 
even  did  he  not  regard  the  safety- of  his  own." 

"Yes,  yes!  my  sacred  friend,  we  would  thumb-screw  him  into 
good  sense,  and  break  him  on  the  wheel, — ha,  ha,  ha!  yes,  break 
him  on  the  wheel!"  And  the  features  of  the  man  with  the  hooked 
nose  became  frightful. 

A  shudder  convulsed  the  sage.  In  the  lightnings  of  thought  he 
saw  pictured  the  mangled  form  of  a  murdered  sire.  There  in  his 
brain  it  stood, — a  bloody  corpse  lasJaed  to  a  wheel;  the  crushed 
bones  protruding  through  the  lacerated  flesh;  the  face  white, 
calm,  brave,  yet  terrible.  Why  not  make  the  wheel  a  sacred 
emblem,  even  as  the  cross? 

The  vision  was  gone.  The  good  man  had  blessed  the  tramps, — 
and  leisurely  drove  away. 

The  carpenter  gazed  after  the  departing  carriage,  and  slowly 
said: — 

"I  have  often  thought  whether  there  could  be  a  worse  hell  than 
tramping  one  thousand  miles  hunting  for  a  chance  to  live, — an 
outlaw  for  the  statutory  crime  of  poverty, — with  hunger  knawing 
at  your  breast  and  suicide  at  your  brain.  This  has  been  my  hell, 
I,  who  have  builded  a  hundred  homes,  yet  who  have  no  place 
wherein  to  lay  my  head.  What  has  plundered  me  of  all  the 
wealth  my  labor  has  produced?" 

"Ay!"  added  the  assembled  vagabonds;  "and  what  has  plun- 


THE  vagabonds;  or,  the  bonded  vags.  127 

dered  us  all?" 

"Gold  has  plundered  you;  this  gentleman  with  the  hooked  noee 
has  received  the  plunder,  and  the  ignis  fatuus  of  our  friend 
with  the  fat  paunch  has  made  you  content  with  being  plundered," 
answered  the  sage.  As  they  thought  of  the  vast  amount  of 
wealth  their  years  of  toil  had  produced,  their  scanty  recompense, 
and  their  present  deplorable  condition,  anger  and  rage  succeeded 
indignation.  Passion  darkened  their  minds.  The  hyena  and 
tiger  lying  dormant  in  their  natures  awoke,  demanding  blood. 
Their  fingers  clutched  like  tallons.  They  eyed  the  thorat  of  the 
man  with  the  hooked  nose, — it  was  white!  Their  hands  trembled, 
and  like  the  growl  of  the  beast  ere  it  springs,  their  voices  grew 
hoarse  and  sullen;  then  breaking  into  an  angry  roar,  they  cried: 
"Down  with  himi  down  with  the  thief  and  robber!"  They  siezed 
the  horses,  and  vented  their  blind  fury  by  beating  the  inoffensive 
brutes;  they  tore  the  driver  and  footman  from  their  perch  and 
trampled  them  under  foot;  and  in  a  moment  the  beautiful  car- 
riage, the  creation  and  triumph  of  tJiei?'  labor  and  science,  was  a 
wreck,  and  the  man  with  the  hooked  nose  a  prisoner. 

Thus  doth  passion  ever  tear  down  and  destroy,  presenting  ruin 
and  devastation  as  a  remedy.  During  the  first  moment  of  attack, 
the  man  with  the  hooked  nose  had  touched  one  of  the  many  wires 
which  hung  stretched  from  pole  to  pole  along  the  road,  and  con- 
veyed a  signal  to  his  vast  army  of  retainers  or  men  at  arms,  who 
prowled  constantly  around,  and  whom  the  man  with  the  hooked 
nose  fed  from  a  slight  portion  of  his  stealings,  clad  in  his  livery, 
and  who,  therefore,  were  ready  in  return  to  kill  and  slaughter  for 
him  at  command.  These  were  the  professional  tramp  murderers, 
and  they  carried  deadly  tools  necessary  to  their  trade.  Their 
principal  one  was  a  long  steel  tube,  through  which  they  pro- 
jected a  leaden  ball.  On  the  end  of  this  tube  they  had  fastened  a 
long,  sharp  dagger,  adapted  and  arranged  for  disemboweling  and 
stabbing  men,  women,  and  children  whom  over-prodnctlon  had 
made  hungry  and  hunger  had  made  riotous.  In  a  moment  all 
would  have  been  up  with  the  vagabonds,  for  the  tramp  murder- 
ers knew  their  duty  and  were  never  slow  to  execute  it;  but  as 
spreads  the  tempest  and  overcasts  the  heavens,  so  had  spread  the 
news  unto  the  people;  as  the  storm-cloud  bursts  and  hurls  down 
its  resistless  avalanche,  even  so  rushed  the  people  upon  the  scene, 
— a  vast,  uncontrollable  multitude,  moving  of  themselves,  im- 
pelled by  curiosity,  wonder,  impulse,  and  fury, — an  innumerable 
host,  whom  over-production  and  starvation  had  brought  to  dis- 
content. 

For  -when  a  poor  man's  eon  needs,  it  must  be  said. 
Become  a  convict  to  obtain  his  bread; 
When  a  poor  man's  daughter,  to  obtain  a  crust, 
Must  fall  a  victim  to  a  rich  man's  lust,— 
Then  perish  patience !    Angels,  shut  your  eyes! 
Come,  conflagration!  light  the  outraged  skies! 
Let  red  Nemesis  seize  the  hellish  clan, 
And  chaos  end  the  slavery  of  man  I 

With  such  feelings  as  these,  came  the  people  upon  the  scene.  The 
sacred  man  with  the  fat  paunch  met  the  host  upon  the  roadway. 
They  seemed  to  him  a  vast  flock  of  sheep  who   had  broken   from 


128  THE  vagabonds;  or,  the  bonded  VAGS. 

their  corral.  He  had  been  their  pastor, — called  himself  "their 
shepherd,"  and  them  "his  flock."  He  tried  in  vain  to  turn  them 
backward.  He  knew  full  well  their  united  and  assembled  wrath. 
He  exhorted  them  as  of  old.  He  pictured  to  them  the  horrors  of 
perdition  should  they  interfere  to  save  their  brethren  and  attack 
authority.  They  were  living  in  a  worse  hell  than  he  predicted. 
He  ordered  them  to  return  to  their  homes.  Alas!  they  had  no 
homes  to  return  to.  Onward  they  came  to  release  their  brethren. 
The  tramp-murderers  loaded  their  tubes  with  their  deadly  leaden 
messengers,  which  for  centures  had  proved  effectual.  But  starv- 
ing science  had  armed  starving  humanity  with  a  deadlier  missile. 
A  poor  student  in  his  wretched  garret  had  wrung  from  nature's 
secrets  a  coi^bination  outrivaling  all  previous  methods  of  murder. 
A  youth, — a  fair-haired  boy, — a  white  blossom  of  cycles  of  pro- 
gression, with  features  such  as  sculptors  vainly  study  to  chisel, 
whose  Apollo  limbs  contrasted  strangely  with  his  coarse  and  rude 
apparel,  rushed  to  the  front.  There  was  a  stillness;  then  from 
the  awful  spell  the  multitude  heard  from  the  tramp-murderere 
the  word: — 

"Fire!" 

The  youth  staggered.  A  golden  curl  nestling  in  front  of  his 
spacious  brow  had  fallen  to  the  ground.  Quick  as  the  lightning 
he  raised  his  arm,  and  with  the  words  "For  liberty!"  hurled  a 
small  glass  globe.    There  was  a  flash, — a  deafening  detonation. 

Earth  and  the  firmament  leaped,  and  then — a  rain  of  falling 
debris— chaos! 

Slowly  the  vapors  rolled  aside.  Where  had  stood  the  tramp- 
murderers  and  the  youth  now  yawned  a  black,  unsightly,  and 
smoking  chasm, — a  reeking  hole  of  death.  Murder  had  devoured 
itself. 

During  all  this  the  sage  had  looked  on,  a  calm,  observant  spec- 
tator. To  him  it  was  merely  the  natural  effect  or  result  of  a  cause: 
the  brutality  of  the  oppressor  arousing  the  brutality  of  the  op- 
pressed,— that  was  all.  Reflex  action:  crime  destroying  crime, 
error  stinging  itself;  retributive  justice!  The  proclamation  of  the 
eternal:  nothing  endures  save  truth! 

The  man  with  the  hooked  nose  had  escaped  the  holocaust,  r.nd 
was  again  a  prisoner.  The  hirelings  who  had  menaced  the  life 
of  the  people  were  gone;  their  destruction  was  self-preservation. 
Their  former  master  was  now  a  prisoner,  defenseless,  powerless 
and  menacing  nothing;  his  destruction  would  be  murder.  Truth 
knows  no  revenge;  with  her  all  action  ceases  with  necessity.  The 
tramps  turned  to  the  sage,  and  pointing  to  their  prisoner,  asked: 

"What  shall  be  his  death?  He  denounced  you,  and  would  have 
had  us  break  you  on  the  wheel.  He  has  robbed  us,  starved  us. 
made  us  wanderers  upon  the  earth.  His  accursed  and  inhuman 
greed  hath  driven  our  sons  and  daughters  into  crime,  our  brethren 
into  asylums  and  prisons,  or  mouldering  in  suicide  or  paupers' 
graves.  Murder  and  theft  are  upon  his  head."  And  with  one 
accord  they  cried: — 

"Kill  him!  kill  him!" 

The  sage  motioned  them  off.  They  instinctively  obeyed.  They 
knew  not   why,  but  they  felt  in  him  the  master, — Reason.    He 


THE  vagabonds;  or,  the  bonded  vacs.  129 

Bpako;- 

"Spars  che  man,  but  destroy  the  system.  Men  are  but  victims 
or  agents  of  systems  and  conditions.  He  is  but  a  man.  His 
death  would  alter  nothing.  One  among  you,  more  eelfish  and 
more  active  than  the  rest,  would  rise  to  take  his  place.  Destroy 
the  system  by  which  he  reigned,  and  no  one  can  take  his  place. 
You  made  his  gold  and  silver  a  lever  to  purchase  your  manhood, 
then  demanded  to  be  purchased.  He  purchased  you,  and  you 
complain;  rather  turn  your  wrath  in  upon  yourselves,  and  if  you 
must  murder,  murder  your  own  ignorance." 

Then  turning  to  the  man  with  the  hooked  nose,  he  added: — 

"Go!  thy  occupation  is  gone.  Thy  power  to  do  evil  is  at  an 
end.  The  people  have  awakened.  They  think.  Prom  their  in- 
creased intelligence  springs  their  increased  freedom.  Usurer! 
depart  into  the  shades  of  a  past  perdition." 

The  usurer  departed.  The  people  had  spol'-en.  His  reign  was 
at  an  end. 

And  now  the  tramps  who  had  pronounced  the  sage  crazy,  de- 
nounced him,  ridiculed  him,  and  sighed  in  their  ecstatic  worship 
for  the  gleaming  metal  as  it  enslaved  them,  now  cried:  "Down 
with  the  golden  calf!  Let  us  have  a  money  of  our  own, — a  money 
representing  the  people, — a  national  co-operative  currency. 
They  gathered  around  the  sage,  a  vast  assemblage.  Among 
them  were  the  representatives  of  many  nations,  who  had  fled 
from  European  tyranny  to  better  their  condition.  They  had 
found  merely  a  new  land  governed  by  old  systems.  To  them  the 
words  "country"  and  "flag"  had  no  significance.  What  difference 
does  it  make  to  the  slave  what  soil  he  tills,  or  what  flag  waves 
above  his  starvation  and  bondage?  Slavery  had  ground  down 
their  fathers  in  the  old;  slavery  had  ground  them  down  in  the 
new. 

The  glass  ball  of  science  which  had  swept  away  the  paid  mur- 
derers of  this  slavery  had  cast  up  little  hillocks  here  and  there, 
and  upon  one  of  these  stood  the  sage,  amid  the  people.  All  eyes 
were  turned  upon  him.  All  had  heard  of  his  philosophy.  First 
they  had  persecuted,  then  disputed,  then  doubted,  then  investi- 
gated, examined,  and  believed, — no!  comprehended.  With  this 
comprehension  began  the  dawn  of  a  new  liberty.  The  world 
everywhere  is  possessed  of  as  much  liberty  as  it  comprehends. 
No  more, — no  less.  Hail  education!  The  sage  spoke:  "The  pro- 
vince of  passion  is  to  tear  down;  of  reason,  to  buildup.  Yout 
passion  has  but  harmed  you, — ever  destroys.  With  intelligence 
you  could  have  avoided  all  this  bloodshed  and  destruction.  But 
your  fury  of  ignorance  is  done.  Your  passion  hath  torn  down; 
your  reason  must  build  up.  You  must  build  a  system  wherein 
man  will  be  the  master  of  money.  For  whatever  controls  your 
money  controls  your  liberty,  property,  and  life." 

There  was  no  empty  applause,  their  hands  lay  folded  on  their 
breasts,  their  lips  moved  not;  for  the  subtile  and  silent  process  of 
reason  was  at  work.  Then  one  whose  back  was  bowed  and 
crooked  vrith  toil,  whose  work-misshapen  hands  were  hard  and 
callused  as  the  beast's  hoof,  a  builder  of  marble  palaces,  who 
dwelt  in  a  damp  and  noisome  cellar,  addressed  the  sage,  say- 


130  THE    VAGABONDS;    OR,    THE    BONDED    VAQS. 

ing:— 

"Citizen,  thou  who  hast  shown  us  the  cause  of  this  poverty. 
Buffering,  and  crime,  tell  us,  we  pray  thee,  the  remedy.  Answer 
UB  these  questions." 

"You  had  best  depend  upon  your  own  reason  and  experience," 
he  replied;  "but,  nevertheless,  question  and  I  will  give  you  mine." 

"What  shall  free  the  people?" 

"A  money  representing  the  people.  A  national  co-operative 
currency." 

"Who  shall  manufacture  this  money?" 

"The  people,  through  their  agent,  the  government." 

"What  shall  be  the  base  of  its  issue?', 

"Value  received  by  the  government." 

"Why"? 

"Any  form  of  money  demanding  from  the  people  a  value  where 
no  value  has  been  received  by  the  people  is  robbery." 

"  What  is  money  ?" 

"Money  is  the  exchange-stamp  of  the  government." 

"What  is  the  nature  of  this  stamp?" 

"Its  nature  is  that  of  a  certificate  or  voucher  denoting  a  degree 
of  value  received.  The  propoeition  is,  then,  that  for  the  govern- 
ment to  issue  its  money-stamp  upon  any  material  to  an  individ- 
ual, empowering  him  to  demand  a  value  from  the  people  without 
itself  having  first  received  an  equal  value  from  him  for  the  people 
is  ROBBERY.  This  is  the  base  of  our  present  financial  system, — 
something  for  nothing.  That  which  gets  something  for  nothing 
is  called  "capital.'  That  which  gets  nothing  for  something  is 
called  'labor.'  To  be  right,  you  must  begin  right.  You  must 
adopt  a  principle  by  which  not  one  dollar  of  the  people's  money 
can  ever  pass  from  the  government  into  the  possession  of  an  in- 
dividual without  him  first  havinjg  honestly  earned  it.  The  gov- 
ernment stamp  represents  a  degree  of  value.  If  I  can  procure 
that  stamp  from  the  government  without  giving  a  value  equal  to 
its  face,  with  it  I  can  procure  something  from  the  people  which 
I  have  never  earned.  Only  give  me  enough  of  these  stamps  and  I 
can  become  a  millionaire  without  having  earned  a  dollar," 

"Ah!  but  if  the  government  places  this  stamp  upon  your  gold, 
do  you  not  give  us  an  equal  value  for  all  you  receive?" 

"No ;  I  give  a  metal  to  which  your  stamp  has  given  a  fictitious 
and  extraordinary  value." 

"But  why  do  the  millions  place  their  stamp  upon  this  metal  of 
the  few?" 

"Because  they  are  possessed  of  a  superstition.  They  believe  the 
metal  has  an  intrinsic  value,  and  is  especially  designed  to  meas- 
ure and  represent  the  real  values  of  the  world." 

"Where  do  they  get  such  a  superstition  as  this  from?" 

"From  their  savage  ancestors,  who  once  wore  it  through  their 
lips,  ears,  and  noses;  who,  childlike,  prized  it  for  its  glitter  and 
color.  Our  mothers  wear  it  through  their  ears;  our  fathers  wear 
it  through  their  brains." 

"What  would  be  a  just  money?" 

"A  just  money  would  be  the  government  exchange-stamp  issued 
for  value  received, — a  national  co-operative  currency." 


I 


THE    vagabonds;    OR,    THK    BONDED    VAGS.  131 

"Explain  the  manner  of  its  iesue  and  circulation." 

"The  government  is  the  whole;  an  individual  the  part.  For 
any  value  received  by  the  whole  from  a  part,  or  by  the  govern- 
ment from  an  individual,  a  paper  measure  of  that  amount  would 
be  given.  If  the  value  was  twenty  dollars,  a  twenty  dollar  cer- 
tificate would  be  given.  The  base  of  this  money's  issue  would 
then  be  value  received." 

"What  would  cause  it  to  flow  from  the  treasury  to  the  people?" 

"The  service  of  a  part  to  the  whole." 

"What  would  cause  it  to  flow  from  the  people  back  to  the 
treasury?" 

"The  service  of  the  whole  to  a  part,  where  the  people  used 
public  institutions,  such  as  mail,  telegraph,  railroad;  thus  each 
person  would  redeem  it  for  the  whole,  and  the  whole  would 
redeem  it  for  each  person.  Thus  it  would  circulate,  distributing 
wealth  from  the  treasury  out  among  the  people,  and  from  the 
people  back  into  the  treasury,  even  as  the  blood  flows  from  the 
heart  to  the  extremities,  and  back  again  to  the  heart.  The 
treasury  would  then  be  to  the  nation  what  the  heart  is  to  an  in- 
dividual, and  this  currency  would  become  in  reality  the  nation's 

BLOOD." 

The  sage  continued: — 

"The  true  government  of  man  is  that  which  is  formed  after 
man  himself.  A  nation's  currency  should  perform  for  its  people 
what  the  life-current  performs  for  the  individual, — should  circu- 
late life  and  wealth  to  every  part  of  the  structure;  for  if  wealth 
accumulates  in  any  one  part,  want  must  palsy  the  remainder. 
Therefore,  any  form  of  money  which  favors  one  person  more  than 
another,  or  aids  the  abnormal  enrichment  of  one  class  and  the 
consequent  impoverishment  of  another,  must  in  time  necessarily 
produce  national  congestion  and  death." 

"What  would  be  the  amount  issued?'' 

"The  demand  would  determine  the  amount.  The  necessity 
would  determine  the  demand." 

"What  would  stop  an  over-issue?" 

"An  over- issue  would  be  impossible.  This  money,  being  issued 
for  value  received,  could  not  get  in  excess  of  the  value  in  ex- 
ista7ice.  How  could  you  over-issue  a  thing  only  issued  for  value 
received?" 

"Would  it  not  fluctuate  in  value?" 

"That  would  be  impossible,  being  a  measure  of  values,  not  a 
value.  Values  might  fluctuate.  This  measure  would  simply 
measure  their  fluctuations.  Butter  might  go  up,  or  butter  might 
go  down;  gold,  silver,  brass,  or  lead  might  go  up  or  down,  or  go  to 
hades:  this  would  fixedly,  steadily  measure  their  rise  and  fall, 
even  as  a  carpenter's  rule  measures  a  board,  let  it  shrink  or 
swell." 

"What  effect  would  it  have  on  gold  and  silver  money?" 

"The  law  is,  decrease  of  use,  decrease  of  value.  If  a  substance 
were  discovered  superior  to  leather  for  making  shoes,  and  were  to 
replace  leather  for  that  use,  leather  would  become  a  drug  in  the 
market  and  fall  to  zero. 

The  decrease  of  the  use  of  gold  and  silver  by  sixty  millions  of 


132  THE  vagabonds;  or,  the  bonded  vags. 

people  for  the  purposes  of  money  would  decrease  its  value  cor- 
respondingly. The  calves  who  worship  the  golden  calf  would  be 
astonished  at  the  wonderful  precipitation  of  their  idol  by  our 
national  co-operative  currency." 

"Would  it  abolish  usury?" 

"Money  being  a  necessity,  a  people  who  place  their  money- 
stamp  upon  gold  and  silver  must  borrow  and  pay  tribute  to  the 
owners  of  these  metals  for  the  use  and  posession  of  their  own 
stamp.  Again  money  being  a  necessity,  a  people  who  give  away 
the  right  of  placing  their  money-stamp  upon  paper  to  any  person 
or  corporation  must  borrow  or  pay  tribute  to  that  person  or  cor- 
poration for  the  use  of  their  own  stamp.  This  is  our  present  sys- 
tem of  money, — a  system  fathered  by  robbery,  suckled  by  igno- 
rance, and  resulting  in  usury.    To  abolish  usury,  stop  giving 

AWAY  YOUR  STAMP,  AND  YOU  WILL,  NOT  HAVE  TO  BORROW  IT.  Re- 
verse the  system.  Place  your  stamp  upon  your  own  paper,  issue 
it  for  value  received,  and  the  power  to  absorb  your  wealth 
through  your  own  stamp  will  end.  Then  none  can  be  posessed 
of  more  money  than  the  market  value  of  the  services  they  have 
performed,  and  of  which  their  money  would  be  the  true  and  just 
representative.  Being  the  representative  of  value,  and  not  a 
value,  it  would,  in  order  to  get  value,  seek  labor  and  science. 
The  safes  would  open.  To-day  labor  and  science  are  compelled 
to  seek  money.  The  safes  are  shut.  A  money  which  seeks  labor 
and  science  employs  labor  and  science,  hence  beautifies  and  im- 
proves. A  money  which  labor  and  science  have  to  seek  degrades 
and  disfigures.  Labor  and  science,  being  sought,  rise  in  value, — 
beocme  elevated.  The  elevation  of  labor,  the  freedom  of  labor; 
the  destruction  of  wage  slavery, — modern  serfdom.  Thus  the 
national  currency  from  its  nature  would  be  a  money  to  spend,  not 
to  hoard.  Money  should  be  to  spend.  Go,  white-headed  patriarch, 
ye  of  the  spacious  brow,  learn  truth  from  the  babe.  Thy  little 
child,  obeying  the  instinct  of  its  nature,  teaches  you  the  true  and 
natural  use  of  money, — to  spend.  Yet  for  centuries  you  have 
planted  hate  and  murder  into  the  minds  of  youth,  poisoning 
budding  humanity,  instilling  into  fair  and  sympathetic  thought 
dark  maxims  of  sordid  selfishness,  teaching  thy  children  to 
chain  their  souls  and  civilization's  flight  unto  a  miser's  chest  of 
gold.  You  have  cried  to  the  young:  'Save  the  pence;  the  pounds 
will  take  care  of  themselves;'  and  for  fear  they  would  not  hoard, 
and  inflict  usury  upon  their  brothers,  you  have  stamped  your  flat 
upon  your  brutalizing  idol,  gold,  and  compelled  generations  to 
either  hoard  or  starve.  Thus  you  have  made  one  child  a  million- 
aire, and  a  million  children  paupers." 

"Would  there  not  be  millionaires  and  paupers  under  this  sys- 
tem?" 

"A  money  which  sought  labor  would  yield  no  shave  on  labor. 
The  power  and  the  motive  to  hoard  being  destroyed,  there  could 
not  be  either  millionaires  or  paupers." 

"What  effect  would  it  have  on  land  monopoly?" 

"Land  and  money  are  the  two  great  necessities.  Both  should 
be  controlled  by  the  whole.  To-day  they  are  controlled  by  the 
part.    The  interest  of  the  whole  being  superior  to  the  part,  every 


THE  vagabonds;  or,  thk  bonded  vach.  133 

necessity  and  convenience  affecting  the  whole  should  be  posessed 
and  run  by,  through,  and  in  the  interest  of  the  whole.  The  goal 
of  civilization  is  universal  co  operation.  This  is  the  great  battle. 
Each  morning's  sun  discovers  humanity  nearer  together.  Prom 
the  womb  of  each  night's  darkness  arises  a  freer  and  more  united 
brotherhood.  The  solution  of  the  problem  of  civilization  is,  •ne 
for  all  and  all  for  one.  One  in  land,  one  in  money,  one  in  inter- 
est, one  in  brotherhood,  one  in  government,  one  in  justice,  one  in 
love.  Shylockism  and  landlordism  are  the  same.  Destroy  the 
monopoly  of  money,  and  you  destroy  the  monopoly  of  land. 
Destroy  the  shave  on  money,  you  destroy  the  shave  on  labor  and 
land  monopoly.  The  theft  of  God's  domain  becomes  improfitable. 
Study  this  last  proposition,  and  the  more  you  look  at  it,  the 
bigger  it  vfiW  grow,  and  the  closer  the  two  great  questions  will 
become  one" 

"Ah!  but  land  touches  the  question  of  production;  money  but 
touches  the  question  of  distribution." 

"Check  distribution  and  you  check  production.  Whatever  con- 
trols the  distribution  of  a  people's  wealth  among  them  controls 
the  production  of  their  wealth.  Any  form  of  money  creating  a 
monopoly  of  money  must  create  a  lack  of  money  among  the 
many.  The  many  not  having  the  medium  to  purchase  th©  pro- 
duction, the  production  accumulates  in  the  hands  of  the  differ- 
ent producers,  the  market  becomes  overstocked,  and  further  pro- 
duction ceases.  Thus  the  people  starve,  while  the  granaries  are 
bursting  with  grain;  the  warehouses  are  filled  with  clothing, 
while  the  people  are  ragged;  the  houses  are  empty,  while  the 
people  are  homeless.  Thus  the  producer  becomes  idle.  Thus 
the  land  of  the  farmer  becomes  unprofitable,  and  falls  at  last  into 
the  hands  of  the  money-shark.  Thus  distribution  controls  pro- 
duction.   Thus  gold  absorbs  your  homes." 

They  asked:  "Would  not  the  solution  of  land  monopoly  be  the 
division  of  the  lands  among  the  people,  giving  each  a  farm?" 

"He  who  advocates  the  democracy  of  a  million  petty  farms  is 
traveling  towards  primitive  civilization, — the  borders  of  savag- 
ery,— fences!  A  million  little  farms  mean  a  million  little  petty 
interests,  primitive  antagonisms,  divided  and  laboroue  produc- 
tion. If  landlordism  is  wrong,  you  cannot  lessen  that  wrong  by 
dividing  its  proprietorship,  by  parceling  an  evil  out  unto  the  mil- 
lions, and  thus  transforming  a  greater  wrong  unto  so  many  lesser 
evils.  No,  no!  National  progress  isgreater  than  your  little  propo- 
sitions. We  are  marching  on  through  centralization  towards 
universalism.  A  million  little  farms  would  mean  a  million  little 
petty  landlords,  each  even  more  intolerant,  supercilious,  arrogant, 
and  grinding  to  the  improvident  and  unfortunate  springing  up 
beneath  them  than  they  whom  they  now  cry  out  against, —  the 
democracy  of  the  Devil.  No!  Progress  is  aggregating  the  lands; 
shall  aggregate  the  lands.  Aggregation  of  lands  is  right.  In  this 
aggregation  we  are  taught  a  united  and  harmonious  system  of 
production.  It  is  the  selfish  monopoly  of  the  advantages  and 
benefits  of  aggregation  which  we  must  throw  off,  not  the  aggre- 
gation. Progress  will  adopt  the  aggregated  system, — many 
lands  in  one.    Cast  off  the  monopoly  of  its  benefits,  and  extend 


134  THE  vagabonds;  or,  the  bonded  vags. 

them  unto  all.  The  aggregation  of  lands,  like  labor-saving  ma- 
chinery, is  at  present  working  you  hardship.  Through  this  hard- 
ship you  will  be  lashed  by  the  scourge  of  pain  at  last  into  a 
proper  comprehension  of  the  problems  of  labor-saving  machinery 
and  the  aggregation  of  lands.  Then  you  will  perceive  that 
that  which  should  be  a  universal  blessing  has  been  transformed 
into  a  universal  curse  through  individual  monopoly. 

"Then  you  will  rise,  dispel  the  monopoly,  embrace  the  system 
of  aggregation  of  lands,  railroads,  telegraphs,  and  manufactures, 
and  extend  its  blessing  unto  all.  Then  your  many  farms  will 
gradually  become  one  farm,  your  many  factories  become  one  fac- 
tory, your  many  stores  become  one  store.  Then  this  grey-headed 
lie,  'Competition  is  the  life  of  trade,'  will  explode,  as  all  lies.  Then 
there  will  be  no  cut-throat  competition,  no  toiler  trying  to 
cheapen  his  toil,  no  tradesmen  trying  to  undersell  and  starve  his 
neighbor.  Then  your  production  will  be  freed  by  a  just  distri- 
bution,— a  just  distribution  obtained  by  a  just  system  of  money, 
all  and  through  'intelligence,  the  liberator.'  " 

"What  effect  will  this  system  of  money  have  on  taxation?" 
asked  one  whose  property  had  been  rendered  unprofitable  through 
taxation. 

"Taxation,  interest,  rent,  and  profit  on  labor  are  but  different 
species  of  the  same  theft.  All  evils  are  but  one  evil;  all  truths  of 
but  one  truth.    Taxation  is  robbery." 

"What!  they  exclaimed,  taxation  robbery?  How  could  there 
be  a  government  without  taxation?" 

"Under  an  honest  system  of  money  there  would  be,  could  be, 
no  taxation,"  was  the  rejoinder.  "The  government  is  the  people. 
Why  should  the  people  pay  taxes  to  themselves  f" 

"It,  indeed,  seems  strange  and  preposterous,"  they  affirmed. 

"If  you  were  in  government  employ,  and  had  done  the  people  a 
twenty-dollar  service  of  any  nature,  the  government  would  give 
you  a  twenty-dollar  certificate  on  the  people.  You  would  take 
this  certificate  to  the  people  and  they  would  cash  it  in  twenty 
dollars'  worth  of  flour,  or  any  other  value  you  wished.  They 
would  then  have  given  you  twenty  dollars'  worth  of  flour  for  the 
twenty  dollars'  worth  of  service  you  rendered  to  them,  would 
they  not?" 

"They  would." 

"Then  where  would  the  government  be  in  debt  or  have  to  raise 
a  tax?"  he  inquired. 

"Nowhere,"  they  answered,  with  surprise. 

"Thus  the  national  certificate  would  not  only  abolish  tax,  but 
tax  collector  as  well." 

"But  the  stamp  upon  gold  and  silver  and  bank  notes  is  placed 
upon  tbem  by  the  government;  and  why  is  there  taxation  to- 
day?" asked  several. 

"It  is  because  the  government  has  given  away  its  money-stamp 
to  persons  and  to  corporations.  It  places  its  stamp  upon  these 
materials  of  individuals  instead  of  upon  its  own  certificates,  and 
must  therefore  collect  tribute  or  tax  in  order  to  regain  a  sufficiency 
of  its  own  stamps  to  transact  its  own  business.  When  a  nation 
gives  away  its  money- stamp  to  the  owners  of  metals  or  to  corpora- 


THE  vagabonds;  or,  the  bonded  VAGS.  13o 

tions,  it  compels  the  citizen  to  borrow,  and  itself  to  tax.  Thus 
usury  and  taxation  are  but  dual  forms  of  the  same  folly.  The 
first — usury — compelling  the  people  to  give  a  value  where  no 
value  has  been  by  them  received;  the  second — taxation — com- 
pelling the  people  to  pay  a  second  time  for  the  same  service." 

"What  effect  would  this  system  of  money  have  on  railroad, 
telegraph,  and  other  monopolies." 

"Three  millions  of  tramps  idle  are  so  much  wealth  lost  to  the 
nation.  This  system  of  co-operative  currency  would  enable  the 
nation  to  save  this  wealth,  employ  these  men,  enrich  and  benefit 
the  whole.  From  the  financial  heart  of  the  nation  would  flow 
national  currency  enough  to  set  these  three  million  idlemeu  to  work 
building  the  grandest  railroad  system  the  world  ever  dreamed  of. 
The  base  of  these  national  certificates  issued  would  be  value  re- 
ceived; the  value  received  would  be  the  railroad.  As  though  by 
the  wave  of  a  magician's  wand,  you  would  behold  twelve  broad- 
gauge  steel  tracks  reaching  from  New  York  to  San  Francisco, 
traversed  by  a  thousand  trains  of  palace-cars  drawing  a  free  peo- 
ple at  government  cost  price." 

"Does  this  not  draw  too  much  on  imagination?" 

"Reality  is  more  magnificent  than  imagination.  The  magnifi- 
cence of  your  present  railroad  system  was  created  by  about  ten 
per  cent  of  your  idle  labor.  Issue  national  co-operative  certifi- 
cates and  set  the  whole  one  hundred  per  cent  to  work,  and  you 
will  have  one  hundred  times  the  magnificence.  Your  twelve 
steel  tracks  could  be  flanked  by  a  carriage-drive  and  walk  fifteen 
hundren  feet  wide  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific,  beautified  by 
luxurient  foliage  the  entire  distance,  illuminated  by  the  electric 
light,  and  probably  called  National  Avenue.  Electricity  and  na- 
tional certificates  go  together.  National  certificates  would  build 
you  a  splendid  national  telegraph  system,  and  your  five  million 
tramps  would  become  gentlemen  sending  messages  at  government 
cost  price.  Your  public  institutions  would  steadily  increase  on 
every  hand,  gradually  merging  the  government  into  an  organiza- 
tion of  all  for  one,  one  for  all,  national  co-operation." 

At  the  conclusion  of  these  remarks,  the  tramps  cried:  "Who 
art  thou,  that  unravels  the  secret  of  human  misery  and  happi- 
ness?" 

But  he  had  gone.  The  people  dispersed  from  whence  they 
came.  The  tramps  were  again  alone  by  themselves.  The  evening 
skies  reflected  in  the  glassy  waters  of  the  spring,  and  as  the 
tramps  reached  down  to  drink  they  beheld  that  a  strange  beauty 
had  been  added  to  their  features,  for  as  the  spring  reflected  their 
features  even  so  their  features  reflected  their  minds,  now  illumined 
by  a  divine  idea, — the  grandest  discovery  of  the  cycles, — ^a 
NATIONAL  co-oPERATn'E  CURRENCY,  through  which,  and  under 
the  present  condition,  we  can  proceed  to  nationalize  our  public 
institutions  one  by  one  until  all  are  nationalized. 


136  A  FINANCIAL   DRAMA. 

CHAPTER  XLIII. 

THE   FINANCIAL  DRAMA — ^A  SCENIC   HISTORY     OP    THE    DESTRUCTION 

OF  America's  national  co- operative  currency. 

Note, — In  order  to  completely  conclude  oar  task,  we  should  fully  adviee  the 
reader  concerning  the  history  of  the  destruction  of  our  country's  national  co- 
operative money,  ■which  saved  the  Union,  and  defrayed  the  expense  of  the 
emancipation  of  the  slaves,  without  debt,  taxation,  ob  bonds,  and  through 
whose  betrayal  and  dishonor  our  present  national  debt  was  othebwtsb  erect- 
ed ;  for  it  WAS  not  created  by  the  expense  of  that  war,  as  some  imagine. 

If  we  leave  this  untouched,  our  task  would  remain  in  sad  shape  indeed;  for 
millions  of  intelligent  persons,  unadvised  regarding  these  valuable  particulars 
— which  have  been  almost  in  a  measure  supprebsed, — unknowingly  argue  that 
nationalism  cannot  succeed,  that  our  national  money  was  a  failurei  that  we 
must  go  on  bonding  the  nation  forever ;  and  that  there  is  nothing  ahead  for 
the  American  people  save  indebtedness.  If  this  is  so,  then  farewell,  and  for- 
ever, all  hope  of  nationalizing  public  necessities;  for  the  people  cannot  build 
a  collective  institution  with  an  individual  system  of  finance,  individual 
finance  erect  individual  institutions,  and  collective  finance  erect  collective 
institutions.  No  institution  can  be  collective  with  the  shadow  of  individual 
bonds,  mortgages,  and  interest  absorbing  its  product.  Therefore,  in  order  to 
meet  this  unlearned  and  unlettered  view,  this  false  and  ignorant  charge,  that 
our  national  money  ever  of  itself  was  a  failure,  and  to  reveal  where  the  gross 
culpability  and  error  belong,  we  must  conclude  with  this  dark  drama  of  the 
betrayal  of  our  American  money. 

We  do  not  claim  that  politicians  were  the  cause,  or  the  primal  factors,  or 
that  they,  as  a  class,  were  responsible;  for  we  know  too  well  that  the  real 
fault  lay  deeply  imbedded  in  the  people,  who,  in  their  blindness,  re-elected 
and  still  elect,  the  actors  in  this  "drama,"  and  thereby  indorsB  their  actions.. 
There  were  legions  of  political  patriots  who  exposed  and  denounced  this 
drama,  who  strained  every  nerve  to  undo  it,  but  the  people  stood  as  stands 
resistless  granite  against  the  ceaseless  beating  waters,  and  cast  back  the  gal- 
lant ^Ebrts  of  these  noble  heroes  I  Scattered  are  they  to-day,  disheartened 
and  impoverished ;  but  their  great  spirit  breaths  and  sparkles  in  the  fires  of 
truth,  be  they  alive,  or  be  they— no  I  they  can  never  dioc  God  bless  them, 
bless  them,  bless  them,  each,  one,  and  all ;  let  no  harsh  word  ever  touch  their 
Bacred  memories  I 

"The  truth  cannot  die.    It  may  fade,  it  may  fall ;  but  its  essence 

Lives  like  the  breath  of  the  flowers,  in  the  earth  and  the  air; 
Soon  in  God's  time  will  its  bright  and  its  beautiful  presence 

Break  on  the  sight  of  the  people,  resplendent  and  fair 
And  men  who  have  lived  with  unfaltering  devotion 

Only  for  what  they  believed  to  be  honest  and  right 
Yet  shall  have  isles  in  the  midst  of  the  ocean, — 

Isles  of  the  blest,  that  are  lovely  with  sweetness  and  light." 

THE    dark   drama. 

First  Act. — Destruction  of  the  Natioii's  Money. 
It  was  April,  1861. 
Port  Sumter  had  been  fired  upon. 
There  was  no  money  in  the  treasury. 
Armed  men  were  marching  to  the  front. 


A    FINANCIAL,    DRAMA.  137 

Capital  was  marching  to  the  rear. 

Men  and  money  were  necessary  to  save  the  Union. 

The  cabinet  held  a  council.  The  question  was,  How  can  w© 
procure  the  sinews  of  war?    How  shall  we  raise  money? 

The  bankers  nobly(?)  and  patriotically(?)  offered  to  loan  their 
paper  credit — at  a  hogging  rate  of  interest. 

The  cabinet  concluded  that  the  paper  co-operative  currency  of 
forty  millions  of  people,  with  thirty  billions  of  weplth,  was  better 
than  the  paper  credit  of  a  few  financial  adventurers. 

So  on  July  17, 1861,  Congress  issued  $60,000,000  of  co-operative 
currency  or  demand  notes, — honest  and  genuine  currency, — bring- 
ing joy  to  the  soldiers  in  the  field,  and  the  people  at  home,  and 
to  all,  except  to  the  Wall  Street  financiers,  who  would  have  to 
close  up  shop  and  wait  until  they  could  hire  Congress  to  strangle 
this  "money  of  the  people." 

What  made  this  demand  note  genuine  money?  What  made  it 
rise  above  par, — above  gold? — which  it  did. 

Look  and  see. 

Here  is  what  it  said  on  its  face: — 


:        THE    UNITED     STATES     PEOMISES     TO     PAY     THE     BEABBR    FIVE    DOLLARS,    : 

:  ON  DEMAND,    payable  by  the  assistant  teeasuree  of  the  united  : 
:  states  at  new  yobk. 

The  reverse  side   of   this  money   contained  these  significant 
words: — 


:  BBCEIVABLi;  IN  PAYMENT  FOR-ALL  PUBLIC  DUES. 

This  money,  you  can  see,  is  genuine  money;  for  the  govern- 
ment which  pays  it  to  you  receives  it  for  all  public  dues  from 
you,  and  thus  it  is  a  co-operative  and  bona  fide  national  currency. 

We  will  pass  on  to  its  strangulation  by  a  venial  Congress  and 
the  substitution  of  what  to-day  is  known  as  the  legal  tender,  or 
"greenback." 

Wall  street  looked  on  the  demand  note  with  tearful  eyes. 
There  was  no  money  in  it  for  Wall  street. 

Something  must  be  done.  The  nation  was  about  making  its 
own  money,  and  issuing  it  in  payment  for  services  to  the  people. 
The  nation  was  borrowing  no  money  from  Wall  street. 

If  such  a  system  as  this  prevailed,  the  brokers  would  be  ruined, 
— would  in  a  few  years  have  to  go  to  work  and  earn  their  own 
living.  Surely,  something  must  be  done,  and  done  it  was, — and 
done  quickly. 

A  powerful  lobby  was  sent  to  Washington,  and  amid  the 
popping  of  champagne  corks  and  the  fumes  of  fragrant  Havaifes, 
"the  man  with  the  sack"  hired  the  national  legislators  to  arrange 
a  new  style  of  government  money, — a  kind  that  instead  of  going 
above  gold,  would  go  below  it;  that  instead  of  the  people  welcom- 
ing it,  the  people  would  shun  it,  and  borrow  the  banker's  gold  in 
preference.    Thus  was  conceived  the  "legal  tender,"  or  "green 


138  A   FINANCIAL,   DRAMA. 

back,"  or  repudiated  currency. 

Second  Act. — The  Legal  Tender — Substitution  of  a  Repudiated 
Currency  and  Bond  System,  and  the  Creation  of  an    Un- 
taxed Aristocracy. 
This  money  was  issued  during  1862  and  1863,  as  follows: — 

February  5,  1862 $98,620,000 

February  25,  1862 66,429,324 

March  1,  1862 49,881,927 

March  17,  1862. 44,375.000 

And  under  the  above  acts  there  were  also  issued: — 

ir,    tHR^    J $1,622 

^"^   lo^-J ••■J 291,260,000 

Here  is  what  this  queer  currency  said  upon  its  face, — what 
Wall  street  dictated  Congress  to  place  there, — and  for  what 
purpose  may  be  easily  seen:^ — 

:   THE  TJNITED  STATES  PROMISES  TO  PAY  THE  BEAEEEITVBDOLLABS  [no  date].    : 

Not  a  promise  to  pay  on  demand,  or  on  or  after  a  certain  date> 
but  an  indefinite  promise  to  pay,  which  if  placed  upon  any  private 
note  would  make  it  worthless;  and  it  was  thus  worded  to  make 
it  worthless.  But  witness  how  the  Congressional  popular  rep- 
resentatives stabbed  this  money  in  the  back: — 


:        THIS  NOTE  IS  A  LEGAIi  TENDEE  FOR  ALL  DEBTS,   PUBLIC    AND    PRIVATE,    : 

:  EXCEPT  DUTIES  on  imports  and  interest  on  the  public  debt  ;  and  : 
:  is  exchangeable  foe  united  states  six-pee-cent  bonds.  : 

What  could  be  plainer  than  this?  The  back  of  this  note  "gives 
away"  the  entire  scheme  plainer  than  it  can  be  explained.  The 
scheme  was  this:  not  being  receivable  for  taxes,  it  would  depre- 
ciate and  become  cheap,  then  the  bankers  would  buy  it  up  cheap, 
and  exchange  it  for  bonds.    Read  its  words. 

The  language  clearly  shows  that  the  note  is  made  a  legal  tender 
to  pay  all  debts  except  import  duties  and  interest  to  bond-hold- 
ers. As  much  as  to  say:  "This  is  legal  money  for  the  people, — le- 
gal money  to  pay  off  workmen  and  soldiers  with, — but  not  legal 
money  to  pay  government  dues  with.  We  pay  it  to  you, — the 
common  people, — but  don't  you  pay  it  back  to  us.  We  give  it, 
but  won't  take  it.  Neither  the  government  nor  the  bond-holders 
will  take  it.  We  issue  it,  but  we  do  not  recognize  it.  We  despise 
it  and  repudiate  it." 

The  except  depreciated  it.  Why?  Because  the  retail  mer- 
chant would  not  receive  it  from  the  people  for  its  face.  Why? 
Because  the  wholesale  merchant  would  not  receive  it  from  the 
retailer  for  its  face.  Why?  Because  the  government  would  not 
receive  it  from  the  wholesaler  for  imports. 

Now,  how  was  it,  in  the  name  of  all  the  miracles,  that  such  a 
dishonored  currency  as  this  "greenback,"  thus  repudiated  by  the 
power  that  issued  it,  was  ever  worth  one  cent  on  the  dollar? 

Because  Congress  declared  it  a  legal  tender,  and  if  you  refused 


A.    FINANCIAL    DRAMA. 


139 


to  receive  it  in  payment  of  a  debt,  the  debt  was  canceled  and  you 
forfeited  your  claim. 

As  soon  as  this  Mnco-operative  money  was  issued,  it  began  to 
depreciate,  as  was  intended.    See: — 

Official  table,  pekpaeed  by  Me.  E.  B.  Elliott,  assistant  United 
States  tbeasdeeb,  showing  the  value  of  the  gbeenback  oe  stabbed 
dollae  at  diffebent  monthly  pehiod3,  feom  january,  1862,  to 
deceubee,  1861. 


Months. 


Year 

Year 

Year 

1862. 

1863. 

1864. 

67.6 

68.9 

64.3 

96.6 

62.3 

66.1 

98.2 

64.7 

61.4 

98.5 

66.0 

57.9 

96.8 

67.2 

56.7 

93.9 

69.2 

47.5 

86.6 

76.6 

38.7 

87.3 

79.5 

39.-( 

84.4 

74.5 

44.9 

77.8 

67.7 

48.3 

76.3 

67.6 

42.8 

75.6 

66.2 

44.0 

Year 

1S65. 


January.. . 
Febmary.. 

March 

April 

May 

June 

July 

Angast 

September 
October.... 
November . 
December. 


46.3 
48.7 
57.5 
67.3 
73.7 
71.4 
70.4 
69.7 
66.5 
68.7 
66.0 
68.4 


Now,  the  Wall  Street  patriots  began  saving  the  Union  after  the 
fashion  of  financiers,  by  buying  up  $500,000,000  in  notes  for  S300,- 
000,000  in  gold, — or  at  five  for  three, — and  exchanging  them  for 
$500,000,000  six  per  cent,  non-taxable  bonds  at  the  nominal  cost  of 
sixty  cents  on  the  dollar,  being  a  clear  steal  of  $200,000,000,  while 
the  nation  was  in  the  throes  of  a  deadly  civil  war, — and  the  es- 
tablishment of  a  privileged  aristocracy. 

The  business  having  thus  far  worked  well,  it  was  immediately 
repeated,  only  on  a  larger  scale;  and  on  March  3  and  June  30, 
1864,  and  March  3, 1865,  Congress,  on  these  several  dates,  issued 
$1,087,311,700  more  of  five-twenty  bonds,  with  the  necessary 
amount  of  repudiated  depreciating  currency  to  enable  the  bank- 
ers to  gobble  up  the  bonds,  which  they  did,  as  the  records  will 
show, — gold  going  up  in  July,  1864  to  285,  and  legal  tenders  or 
unco-operative  currency  going  dpwn  to  less  than  forty  cents  on 
the  dollar. 

Thus  almost  the  entire  series  of  five-twenty  bonds,  exceeding 
the  sum  of  $1,500,000,000,  were  procured  in  the  neighborhood  of 
fifty  cents  on  the  dollar,  making  a  total  steal  on  the  whole  issue 
of  $750,000,000,  while  the  interest  on  the  bonds  each  year  since 
1864  have  been  as  follows: — 


June  1,  1864 $82,309,445 

June  1,  1865 114,000,000 

June  1.  1866 169,000,000 

June  1,  1867 176,000,000 

June  1,  1868 168,000,000 

June  1.  1889 153,000,000 

June  1,  1870 150,000,00© 

June  1,  1871 140,000,000 

June  1,  1872 136,800,000 

June  1,  1873 129,500,000 

June  1,  1874 120,000,000 

June  1,  1875 118.000,000 

June  1,  1876 105,000,000 


June  1,  1877 102,000,000 

June  1,  1878 09,000,000 

June  1,  1879 105.000,000 

June  1,  1880 97,124,511 

June  1,  1881 05,754,574 

June  1,  1882 88,877,410 

June  1,  1883 82,508,741 

June  1,  1884 59,160,131 

June  1,  1885 54,578,376 

June  1,  1886 51,386,256 

June  1,  1887 47,000,000 

June  1,  1888 44,715,007 


140  A    FINANCIAL    DRAMA. 

Americans!  run  your  eyes  up  this  eloquent  column  of  millions 
taken  from  you  each  year  as  interest  on  a  debt  worked  on  you, 
not  through  you  borrowing  money,  but  through  the  destruction 
of  your  money.  Is  it  not  high  time  you  looked  into  this  ques- 
tion? 

NEARLY  THREE  THOUSAND   MILLIONS   OP  DOLLARS. 

Thus  we  have  already  paid  nearly  $3,000,000,000  in  interest, 
while  the  debt,  amounting  to  $1,165,584,656.64  at  present  writing, 
remains  a  legacy  to  our  children. 

Third  Act. — The  National  (so-called)  Bank  Act — Passed  June  3, 
1864,  Surrendering  the  Sovereign  Bight  of  the  Nation  to 
Issue  Money  unto  the  Untaxed  Aristocracy,  the  So-called 
National  Bankers. 

One  would  naturally  suppose  there  was  a  limit  to  human  greed; 
that  the  now  established  bondocracy  would  rest  content  over  their 
unparalleled  plunder.  But  not  they.  Success  made  them  bolder, 
and  they  actually  conceived  a  scheme  by  which  the  nation  was 
to  manufacture  money  and  give  it  them  free.  The  scheme  was 
finally  consummated  and  became  law  under  the  (so-called)  Na- 
tional Bank  Act. 

Free  money  would  almost  cause  anybody  to  start  a  bank.  But, 
alas!  this  money  was  not  free  to  the  reader,  only  to  the  bond- 
holders; and  they  appreciated  it.  For  by  September  30,  1871, 
they  had  in  full  blast  1,784  money  corporations  known  as  (so- 
called)  national  banks,  and  to-day  there  are  in  operation  some 
three  thousand  institutions  doing  business  under  the  false  title 
of  national  banks,  who  are  loaning  by  the  treasurer's  report  of 
1888,  $276,855,203  to  the  same  people  who  gave  them  this  money 
free.    Of  course  there  is  nothing  in  the  money  question! 

The  money  furnished  by  the  government  to  these  institutions  is 
known  as  national  bank  notes.  They  are  furnished  free  under 
the  act  of  June  30, 1864,  which  virtually  declares  that  all  bond- 
holders who  place  their  bonds  for  safe-keeping  in  the  treasury 
vaults  are  entitled  to  receive  ninety  per  cent,  of  their  amount  in 
so-called  national  bank  notes  from  the  government  free,  should 
they  wish  to  take  out  a  charter  and  start  a  so-called  national 
bank. 

This  is  a  beautiful  arrangement  for  the  bondholder,  whereby  he 
can  draw  a  double  interest  on  the  one  capital,  and  not  only  run 
the  government,  but  the  farms  and  everything  else  worth  run- 
ning. 

The  proposition  may  look  queer  that  the  government  should 
pay  $900  for  the  privilege  of  guarding  a  $1,000  bond;  but  Congress 
has  done  some  stranger  things  than  that  since  1861;  for  instance, 
the  congressional  act  of  1864  giving  the  bond-holder  his  intere«»* 
in  advance. 

Fourth  Act.— Contraction — Outlawing  All  Money  except  Gold 
and  the  Money  of  the  so-called  National  Banks. 

As  the  bond-holders  held  the  gold  and  the  national  bank  notes, 
the  scheme  under  this  act  had  the  simple  object  in  view  of  ren- 
dering everybody's  else  money  valueless  by  legislation,  and  plac- 


A    FINANCIAL,    DKAMA.  141 

ing  the  people  completely  in  the  power  of  the  national  bo-called 
banks.  In  order  to  briner  about  this  result,  Congress — having 
called  in  previously  $133,000,000  small  currency,  and  piled  up  the 
bond-holder's'  fortunes  that  amount  more,  and  at  the  same  time 
contracting  the  people's  currency  to  that  amount — began  the  bus- 
Ines  of  rounding  and  polishing  off  the  entire  scheme  by  whole- 
sale contraction.  So  in  February,  1873,  the  conspirators  at  Wash- 
ington demonetized  silver,  declaring  it  not  a  legal  tender  in  sums 
exceeding  five  dollars,  sweeping  $350,000,000  of  silver  out  of  circu- 
lation. 

Again,  in  January,  1875,  the  bond-holders,  through  Congress, 
struck  another  blow  to  create  and  intensify  the  money  famine, 
and  compel  the  people  to  come  up  and  mortgage  themselves  to 
the  so-called  national  banks,and  on  that  date  passed  the  Resump- 
tion Act,  ostensibly  to  resume  specie  payment,  but  in  reality  to 
further  contract  the  volume  of  money  in  circulation,  which  it  ac- 
complished with  a  vengeance,  for  it  has  piled  up  in  the  treasury 
vaults,  and  kept  from  circulation  $450,000,0Q0  in  gold,  silver,  and 
notes,  reducing — along  with  similar  causes — the  volume  of  money 
of  the  United  States  from  $il  per  capita  (which  it  was  in  186G) 
down  to  the  insiginficant  and  insufficient  sum  of  $12  per  capita, 
causing  universal  bankruptcy  and  ruin.  Thus,  conceived  in  in- 
iquity, perfected  by  treachery,  and  resulting  in  the  present  de- 
plorable condition  of  the  people,  these  four  abominations  were 
brought  forth,  entailing  on  the  country  billions  of  debt,  and  on 
its  masses  of  laboring  poor  practical  serfdom. 

THE   BESULT   OP   CLASS   LEGISLATION. 

The  following  table,  taken  from  the  Banker's  Journal  of  New 
York,  will  give  a  somewhat  general  idea  of  the  magnitude  of  the 
wholesale  ruin  thus  wrought  to  build  up  the  colossal  fortunes  of 
a  few  individuals  by  drawing  this  currency  from  circulation, 
burning  it  up,  and  issuing  bonds  for  it: — 

FAILUKES  OF  LEADING  FIEMS. 

Years.                                No.  of  Firms.  Liabilities. 

1864 529 $8,566,000 

1865 530 17.575,000 

1866 672 47.3.33.00O 

1867 2,389 86,518,000 

1868 2,167 57,275,000 

1369 2,411 65,247,000 

5870 3,168 76,698.000 

1871 2,915 » ~ 70,698,000 

1872 4,069 121,056,000 

1873 5.183 228,499,000 

1874 5,830 - 159,239.000 

1875 7.740 - 201,060,353 

1876 9,092 - 191,117,786 

1877 8,872 ~ - 190,369,930 

1878 10,478 ~ ~ 234,363,132 

1879 12,654 333,221,042 


78,699  $2,088,776,243 

These  failures  were  caused  by  reducing  the  circulating  me- 
dium from  $47  per  capita  down  to  $12  per  capita,  through  calling 
in  the  currency,  and  exchanging  it  for  bonds. 


142  A    FINANCIAL    DRAMA. 

In  order  to  remove  the  odium  of  this  drama  from  politicians  as 
a  class,  and  to  place  the  blame  where  it  rightly  belongs,  we  will 
conclude  by  giving  the  complexion  of  the  members  of  the  Con- 
gresses who  enacted  the  scenes.  Examine,  and  then  behold  the 
kind  of  agents  whom  the  people  elect,  and  are  electing,  and  then 
ask  yourself  whose  fault  is  it, — the  politician's  or  the  people's? 

THE  COMPLEXION  OF  THE  CONGRESSIONAL  ACTORS. 

Bankers  and  bank  stockholders 198 

Lawyers 99 

Merchants 14 

Manufacturers 13 

Physicians 8 

Merchants 0 

Farmers 0 

From  this  table  we  gain  a  faint  glimpse  of  the  reason  of  all  this 
legislation,  resulting  in  the  enrichment  of  bankers  and  the  gen- 
eral impoverishment  of  the  people. 

A   PECULIAR   ARRANGEMENT. 

The  intelligent  bonded  reader  will  observe,  if  he  or  she  will 
run  their  bonded  eye  up  the  yearly  interest  column,  that  the  in- 
terest is  decreasing  as  it  descends  down  to  1888;  but  if  the  reader 
will  take  the  trouble  to  examine,  also  into  the  price  of  labor  at 
the  date  when  the  interest  amounted  to  its  largest  sum  (1867), 
and  the  price  of  labor  where  the  interest  amounts  to  its  smallest 
sum(1888),  the  reader  will  clearly  perceive  that  the  price  of  labor 
has  been  decreasing  in  ratio  as  the  interest  has  been  decreasing; 
the  bond-holder  can  therefore  purchase  as  much  labor  with  his 
reduced  amount  of  interest  of  1888  as  he  could  with  his  larger 
amount  of  interest  of  1867.  So  that  when  it  comes  to  posession 
of  commodities,  which  is  the  real  object  of  his  interest,  the 
amount  he  extracts  to-day  is  the  same  as  in  1867;  that  the  real 
interest  has  not  decreased  at  all. 

"O,  there  is  nothing  in  the  money  question!"  says  some  one. 
No?  Well,  it  seems  to  me  rather  an  important  thing  to  under- 
stand how  individualism  can  put  me  and  sixty  million  other  me's 
in  debt,  where  we  have  never  borrowed  a  dollar,  make  us  pay  in- 
terest, make  us  pay  thousands  of  millions  on  the  principal,  and 
then  make  us  pay  as  much  labor  to  settle  the  balance  as  though  we 
owed  the  original  sum! 

Bonded  ladies  and  gentlemen,  this  is  our  present  beautiful  in- 
dividualistic system  of  finance!  I  wish  to  behold  it  replaced 
with  a  national  system  of  finance,  and  that  is  why  it  becomes  a 
duty  to  reveal  its  processes  and  workings,  which  are  so  arranged 
that  the  less  you  borrow,  the  more  you  owe,  and  the  more  you 
pay,  the  greater  the  debt. 

Who  are  the  kings  of  the  world  to-day? 

Its  financiers. 

Land,  light,  air,  water,  industry,  science,  and  art  are  all  tribu- 
tary and  collateral  to  bonds,  stocks,  and  mortgages. 


A    PINANOIAL   DRAMA.  143 

REVIEW. 

If  the  readers  will  exercise  merely  the  slightest  scrutiny,  they 
will  observe  that  their  own  national  currency  carried  on  the  en- 
tire expenses  of  the  war  ivithout  hoiTowing  paper  credit,  gold  or 
silver,  without  a  debtor  a  bond,  and  that  their  country  immediately 
received  unparalelled  prosperity  during  this  currency's  circula- 
tion; that  the  destruction  of  this  currency  and  its  depreciation 
was  caused  by  the  nation  placing  this  word  "earcepf  upon  its 
back,  thus  dishonoring  and  refusing  to  receive  for  national  taxes 
the  very  currency  which  it  had  paid  out  for  national  labor  and 
service;  that  by  thus  dishonoring,  and  consequently  depreciating 
its  own  money,  it  gave  certain  wealthy  individuals  an  opportunity 
to  buy  it  up  as  they  would  so  much  old  junk;  that  then  this  wise, 
wise  nation  immediately  set  the  printing-presses  to  work  and  be- 
gan PRINTING  OFF   UnITED   StATES    BONDS,  WHERE    THERE    WAS  NO 

DEBT,  AND  NO  NEED  of  bonds,  there  having  been  nothing  bor- 
rowed,—-began  printing  United  States  bonds  while  the  industry 
and  business  of  the  country  was  running  on  this  national  co-op- 
erative currency,  and  enjoying  through  this  currency  the  must 
prosperous  years  of  its  existence,  that  the  nation  then  called  in 
this  national  currency,  burned  it  up,  and  exchanged  it  for  these 
printed  bonds;  thus  sweeping  away  what  was  and  should  have 
been  its  co-operative  exchange,  causing  the  hard  times  which  the 
table  of  business  failures  reveal,  and  building  up  a  national  debt 
OUT  OF  A  DARK  AND  VILLAINOUS  SCHEME,  and  where  the  American 

people  HAD  NEVER    BORROWED    A    DOLLAR.      Just    think    of    it!      O 

Americans,  think  of  it! 

I  know  that  in  metaphysics  the  pathology  of  crime  is  tabooed, 
but  sometimes  we  have  to  reveal  the  disease  the  better  to  reveal 
the  remedy. 

Americans,  instill  into  your  children  a  love  for  their  country! 
Read  this  dark  drama,  and  read  it  over  again.  Give  it  to  your  chil- 
dren, and  teach  them  its  history.  They  must  understand  it  to  be 
free.  "Eternal  vigilance  is  the  price  of  liberty,"  so  a  great  patriot 
hath  said;  but  a  dog  may  be  very  vigilant,  and  eternally  vigilant; 
AND  YET  be  ENCHAINED,  and  not  free.  Freedom  needs  something 
else  besides  "vigilance,"  and  that  something  else  is  intelligence. 
Eternal  intelligence  is  the  price  of  liberty,  and  no  people  can  be 
free  who  cannot  discern  the  difference  between  their  own  co- 
operative exchange  and  a  borrowed  money;  who  cannot  compre- 
hend that  a  national  co-operative  currency  liberates  the  world 
from  bonds;  who  can  not  perceive  that  the  system  of  individual 
finance  has  bonded  or  mortgaged  every  dollar's  worth  of  wealth 
in  existence;  that  there  is  a  bond  or  mortgage  of  some  kind  upon 
your  land,  your  house,  your  food,  your  clothes,  and  every  oc- 
cassional dollar  in  your  pocket;  that  this  bond  or  mortgage  is 
steadily  extracting  your  wealth  in  its  silent  process  of  absorption; 

THAT  THE  WORLD's  ENTIRE  WEALTH  IS  LESS  THAN    THE  SUM    WHICH 

THE  world's  ENTIRE  BONDS  CALL  FOR,  and  that  Consequently  the 
world's  entire  increase  of  wealth  must  be  consequently,  and  is 
consequently,  absorbed  as  interest;  that  not  a  thing  you  have 
nor  a  thing  the  entire  community  has,  but  that  is  according  to 
your  laws,  courts,  and  civilized    customs,  leviable  and  liable    to 


144  A    FINANCIAL,    DRAMA. 

execution  under  the  rules  of  national,  state,  and  county  jurispru- 
dence governing  these  bonds;  that  the  police,  militia,  array,  and 
navy  of  the  world  are  behind,  and  are  ready  at  any  moment  to  en- 
force, at  the  cost  of  millions  of  lives,  the  payment  of  interest  and 
principal  of  those  bonds,  or  the  surrender  of  the  w^orld's  wealth 
which  secures  them.  Oh,  there's  nothing  in  the  money  question! 
Go,  ye  who  think  so,  and  read  the  statistical  work  upon  the  na- 
tional, state,  county,  municipal,  private,  and  corporate  mort- 
gages; figure  them  up,  and  find  out  where  you  and  your  property 
stand;  and  if  you  understand  the  commonest  rules  of  arithmetic, 

— IF  you  UNDERSTAND  THAT  PUBLIC  DEBTS  ARE  MORTGAGES  UPON 

PRIVATE  PROPERTY, — you  will  then  understand  that  the  property 
holders  of  the  United  States  are  mere  tenants  at  will,  but  over- 
seers, of  the  bond-holders,  and  that  the  propertyless  poor,  still 
below  are  but  bonded  serfs. 

CHAPTER   XLIV. 


Although  this  is  a  true  citation  of  events,  nevertheless  we 
merely  present  it  as  an  object-lesson, — not  to  show  up  individuals, 
but  simply  to  reveal  the  natural  results  of  a  system  which  renders 
our  collectivity  a  prey  to  individual  selfishness  through  our  indi- 
vidual system  of  affairs.  To  waste  our  forces,  scatter  our  ener- 
gies, and  fritter  away  our  time  in  dealing  with  the  iniquities  of 
petty  individuals  is  beneath  our  purpose.  The  present  system  of 
society  presents  continual  temptations  to  us  all.  Dire  necessities 
face  us  upon  all  sides,  and  vile  temptations  accompany  these  dire 
necessities.  The  evil  and  the  temptation  are  here,  and  we  fall 
victim  to  their  snares.  It  is  the  abolition  of  these  evils  and  their 
temptations  which  we  would  deal  with;  for  instead  of  punishing 
individuals,  we  seek  only  to  benefit  society.  The  present  system 
of  society  is  full  of  traps,  lying  ready  to  trip  us  up,  and  the  best 
of  us  are  sometimes  tripped  more  or  less.  Let  us  not  have  traps, 
and  then  condemn  our  brothers  for  falling  into  them;  let  us 
rather  remove  the  traps, — remove  the  evils,  the  temptations. 
Necessity  is  vacuum, — the  center  of  attraction, — and  all  alike  are 
impotently  drawn  and  shaped  therein.  If  we,  with  our  present 
necessities  and  our  present  weaknesses,  had  held  the  same  pred- 
ilections as  the  actors  in  this  drama,  we,  too,  would  have  done 
precisely  the  same  under  identical  circumstances.  Under  the 
ruling  forces  of  present  conditions,  the  carpenter's  son,  the  sturdy 
mason,  the  busy  machinist,  the  honest  farmer  who  does  not  place 
the  largest  apples  in  the  bottom  of  the  bo.x,  the  engineer,  and  the 
architect, — all  alike  might  have  done  the  same  thing  under  ident- 
ical circumstances  which  prompted  the  actors  of  this  drama. 

The  Nazarene  prayed:  "Lead  us  not  into  temptation,  but 
deliver  us  from  evil." 

So  long  as  we  leave  the  present  system  intact;  so  long  as  we 
hold  and  believe  that  one  man  has  the  right  to  take  that  which 
belongs  to  another,  and  to  take  that  also  which  belongs  to  all, — 
just  so  long  will  we  have  this  condition  of  evil  which  Christ 
prayed  we  might  be  delivered  from ;  just  so  long  vrill  we  have 


SOCIETY.  Ii5 

these  numerous  and  endless  temptations  which  he  prayed  we 
might  not  be  led  into.  Therefore,  let  us  deliver  our  country  from 
evil,  and  not  lead  our  people  into  temptation,  and  we  will  have 
no  longer  these  instances  of  inhuman  rapacity  we  have  instanced 
in  this  drama. 

Society  works  as  works  a  liquor, — the  mass  itself  gradually 
clarifies,  and  as  the  liquor  in  the  course  of  purification  proceeds, 
down  to  the  bottom  drops  the  dregs,  and  up  to  the  top  gathers 
the  scum;  by  and  by  the  body  of  the  fluid  becomes  clean  and 
clear,  and  entirely  separates  itself  from  its  lower  and  upper  im- 
purities. Society  is  about  doing  this  to-day;  and  this  action  of 
purification  of  the  body  of  society  is  nothing  more  nor  less  than 
thitiking ;  for  thought  will  inevitably  cast  out  the  impurities  of 
the  body  politic.  There  therefore  is  really  but  one  class  in  society. 
Its  criminal  element  is  not  a  part  of  society  proper,  but  merely 
its  dregs  and  its  scum;  and  these  two  form,  therefore,  the  two 
species  of  our  criminal  element, — that  portion  who  work  crimin- 
ality through  mental  processes,  and  that  portion  who  work  crim- 
inality through  physical  processes.  The  first  is  represented  by 
such  as  the  actors  in  this  drama  who  live  on  the  surface  of 
society,  and  the  second  are  represented  by  the  burglars,  highway- 
men, pickpockets,  and  other  gentry  who  live  down  at  the  bottom 
of  society.  As  the  masses  take  on  love  and  wisdom,  they  purge 
themselves  of  these  above-mentioned  twin  impurities,  and  become, 
as  it  were,  clear  spirit, — a  thing  which  ferments  not,  sours  not, 
rots  not,  but  endures  as  pure  life  everywhere  endures.  Therefore 
we  need  not  bother  nor  worry  ourselves  much,  either  about  the 
dregs  below  nor  the  scum  above;  we  have  to  but  simply  purify, 
through  pure  conditions,  the  great  body  of  society  itself. 

So  long  as  society  retains  these  present  immoral  and  unjust 
conditions,  it  will  continue  to  slough  off  these  upper  and  lower 
impurities;  and  if  it  continues  thus,  and  improves  not,  then  the 
entire  mass  corrupts,  rots,  festers,  and  dies;  for  scum  and  dregs 
mean  death.  The  upper  impurity  is  cast  up  from  the  impurity 
permeating  society.  Thus  society  is  responsible  for  its  upper 
criminal  element.  The  lower  impurity  is  also  precipitated  down 
from  the  impurity  permeating  society;  and  thus,  again,  society  is 
also  responsible  for  its  lower  criminal  element.  Thus  it  is  wrong 
to  PUNISH  OR  TO  CONDEMN  either  the  monopolist  orthemanipulist, 
the  top  or  the  bottom  wrong-doer, — for  both  are  victim8g';nerated 
and  sloughed  forth  up  and  down  from  the  central  impurity. 

Society!  cease  condemning  or  punishing  thy  sad  unfortunates, 
be  they  rich  or  poor,  whose  errors  you  are  responsible  for.  Well 
may  you  be  charitable  and  forgiving  to  them  both;  for  their 
crimes  are  your  own. 

Society!  instead  of  blaming  the  millionaire  and  monopolist, 
blame  thyself;  instead  of  correcting  them,  correct  thyself.  Blame 
not,  also,  the  criminals  who  infest  thy  lower  walk  of  life;  for  they 
too  are  your  own  product.  Purify  thy  social  relations.  Justify 
thy  industrial  relations.  Equalize  thy  natural  relations.  In  a 
word,  nationalize  thyself,  and  all  pertaining  to  thyself,  and  then 
you  will  find  no  criminals  on  top,  and  no  criminals  on  bottom;  for 
not  being  criminal  thyself,  thou  canst  not  yield  criminals.  Nation- 


MUTUAL  BANKING 

BY  WILLIAM  B.  GREENE. 


THIS  remarkable  work  contains  a  well 
digested  plan  for  freeing  the  world  from 
the  eurse  of  money  monopoly  with  its 
resultant  evil,  interest  taking,  without 
waiting  for  the  co-operation  of  a  majority 
of  the  people.  It  is  a  white-winged  messen- 
ger of  hope  and  courage  to  those  who  have 
despaired  of  educating  the  masses  into 
freeing  themselves  from  the  clutch  of  the 
money  lords.  Students  of  the  money 
question  who  have  not  read  this  wonder- 
ful work  will  find  in  its  pages  much  that 
will  astonish  them.  Many  of  their  old 
ideas  will  be  rudely  shaken  by  the  invinc- 
ible logic  of  the  author.  To  study  this 
book  is  to  finish  one's  financial  education. 


GLAZED  PAPER  COVERS,  POSTAGE  PAID.  IOC;  20  FOR  $1.00. 
THE  CRUSADE  PUBLISHING  CO. 

DENVER,  COLO. 


-THE- 


Alliance  Library. 


THE  SOCIAL  QUESTION. 

Paper  Cloth 

John  Harvey 51  00 

Wealth  vs.  Commonwealth-H.D. 

Lloyd 1  00 

Civilization  Civilized— Maboll..  10 
Facts  ct  Fiction  of  Life— Gardner  fiO    1  25 
Men,  Women  and  Gods         "'         uO    1  25 
.Sldaeology- Treatise  Generative 

Life 1  25 

TheRifrhtsof  Labor 25 

The  I'ullman  Strike— Canvorline  25 
Direct  Legislation-J.W. Sullivan  25 

Henry  Cadavere .   .  > 75 

Jesus  or  Ceesar — Flower 06 

The  Wherefore  Investig'ating  Co. 

L.  Waisbrooker 50 

Perfect    Motherhood— Waisb'kr         1  00 

Occult  Forces — Waisbrooker 50 

Fountain  of  Life  '■  50 

Sex  Revolutions  "  25 

Hellen  Harlow's  Vow    "  25 

Things  As  I  See  Them— Wayland  05 

Sesame  and  Lillies— Ruskin 50 

Age  of  Reason— Paine 25 

Rights  of  Man— Paine 50 

The  Crisis— Paine 50 

Common  Sense 15 

Volney's  Ruins 50 

Strike  of  a  Sex— Geo.  N.  Miller.  25 
After  the  Sox  Struck  "  28 

The    Irrepressible    Conflict   Be- 
tween Two  World  Iheories . .  50 

Poverty's  Factory 25 

If  Christ  Came  to  Chicasro 50 

Alliance  Songster — Leo  Vincent  20 

($2  per  dozen.) 
Armageddon  Songster 35 

RELATING  TO  FINANCE. 

Labor  and  Finance  Revolution.  1  25 

Brice's  Financial  Catechism 50 

The  Great  Red  Dragon 50 

Our  Money  Wars— Leavitt 50    1  25 

The  Golden  Battle— Donnelly ...  50 
Bond  Holders  and  Bread  Winners  25 
New  Monetary  System— Loucks.  25 
Better  Financial  System — Ward  25 
A  Scientific  Exposure  of  The  Er- 
rore   in  our  Money  System — 

Hobart -. 25 

Philosophy  of  Price— Dunning. .  25 
Ten  Men  of  Money  Island-Norton  10 
Sevf>n  Financial  Conspiracies- 
Emery  10 

Imperialism  in  America — Emery  10 

Coin's  Financial  School 25 

A  Tale  of  Two  N  ations 25 

Labor   and  Capital 25 

Money  Found— Hill 25 

The  Banker's  Dream 25 


The  Ranker  Hypnotized 25 

Mutual  B.-mking- tireone 10 

Li'ttoi.M  frnni  .Jimtowu— Wilson.  25 
A  F'ew  Financial  Facts— S.S.King  25 
Money  vs.  Products— Wilson.. ..  25 
The  Banker's  Conspiracy— 25 

ON  CO-OPERATION. 

Mutualism—  Parsons 10 

Civilization  Civilized— Mabell. .  10 
Washmgton    Brown,    Farmer- 
Armstrong  50 

Government  Ownership  of  Rail- 
roads and  Telegraphs  as  ad- 
vocated by  the  F.  A.  and  1.  U. 

H.  L.  Loucks 25 

Farming  Corporations 1  00 

TRANSPORTATION. 

Railways  of  Europe  and  .America  50    1  25 
Government  Ownersliip  of  Rail- 
roads and  Telegraphs  as  ad- 
vocated by  the  b\  A.  and  I.  U. 
H.  L.  Loucks 25 

REFORM  NOVELS.     . 

Main  Traveled  Road— Garland.  50  1  00 
A  Member  of  the  Third  House..  50    100 

Jason  Edwards-drarland 50    1  00 

ASpoilofOtlice— Garland 50    100 

Prairie  Folks  -Garland 50    1  25 

Congressman  Swanson— Post.. .  50  1  25 
Driven  from  Sea  to  Sea— Post ...  50  125 
vVho  Lies?-Blum  Alexander ....  50  1  00 
Just  Plam  Folks— Doubleday.. .  50    125 

Unveiling  a  Parallel 50    1  50 

Is  This  Your  Son,  My  Lord?— 

Gardner 50    125 

Pray  You  Sir,  Whose  Daughter?  50    1  25 

An  Official  Patriot— Gardner 50    1  25 

Esau,  or  The  Banker's  Victim- 
Bland  25 

A  Story  of  Pullmantown— Meyer  25 

Sh.vlock's  Daughter 25 

No  Enemy  But  Himself— Hub- 
bard    1  25 

The  Story  of  a  Canon— Hill 50    1  50 

David  and  Abigail— B.  T.  Sawyer  SO  1  25 
Wonderful  .Vdveiitures  on  Venus  50    1  50 

Which  Way,  Sir,  The  Better 25 

Birth  of  Freedom 25 

Siegfried.  The  Mystic— Wheeler.  50 
The  Heart   of    Old    Hickory  — 
Dromgool 50 

Send  orders  to 

R.  A.  SOUTHWORTH. 

429  Charles  Building, 

Denver,  Colo. 


The  Safest  and  Best  Insurance. 


The  Brotherhood  of  the  Co-operative  Commonwealtli  in- 
sures its  members  against  accident,  sickness,  old  age,  loss  of 
work,  )o--s  of  home,  and  death.     The  plan  is  this  : 

To  establish  all  kinds  of  industrial  plants  for  the  produc- 
tion of  the  necessaries  and  luxuries  of  life,  build  comfortable 
homes  with  all  modern  conveniences,  to  provide  the  best  edu- 
cational institutions,  including  the  kindergarten  and  manual 
training,  and  to  lay  out  beautiful  parks  an-i  pleasure  grouads  ; 
in  short,  to  build  model  co-operative  communities,  which  will 
be  jointly  or  collectively  owned  by  the  entire  Brotherhood. 
Each  resident  member  of  these  communities  will  receive  equal 
pay  for  a  day's  work,  no  difference  being  made  in  the  compen- 
sation of  men  and  women,  or  of  manual  and  mental  labor  ;  and 
we  aim  eventually  to  inaugurate  the  Nationalistic  system,  in 
which  all  will  assist  according  to  their  ability  and  receive  ac- 
cording to  their  needs. 

To  secure  the  necessary  funds  for  carrying  out  this  plan,  a 
colony  membership  fee  of  |i6o  is  charged.  By  paying  this  in 
full,  a  member  receives  a  paid-up  policy,  or  a  colony  member* 
ship  certificate.  Members  wishing  to  go  to  the  front  as  pi- 
oneers in  colony  building  pay.  in  advance  the  full  fee  of  |i6o, 
while  those  who  prefer  to  retain  their  present  situations,  but 
who  would  like  to  provide  against  reverses,  may  pay  for  a 
colony  membership  by  monthly  installments. 

By  mean;  of  the  initiative,  referendum  and  imperative 
mandate,  every  member  has  an  equal  voice  and  vote  in  the 
management,  and  perfect  democracy  is  thus  secured — the 
members  rule. 

President — Rev.  Myron  W.  Reed,  Denver,  Colorado. 
Secretary — N.  W.  Lermond,  Edison,  Washington. 
Treasurer— 'iA\'S,'S>  Helen  M.  Mason,  Edison,  Washington. 
O  ganizer—K^w .  George  Candee,  Toledo,  Ohio, 
Dean—?Y^OY.  Frank  Parsons,  Boston,  Massachusetts. 
Editor — Rev.  W.  H.  Kaufmen,  Edison,  Washington. 
Master  Workman— <Z\i.K'S,.  H.  Swigart,  Edison,  Washington. 
Distributer— Y..  F.  Nolan,  Edison,  Washington. 


2  4  4  3 


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